Victoria Kutz (left) and Patrick Cota (right) discussing strategy against Penn State at the Buckeye Varsity Field on Oct. 5. Cota was named the US national field hockey coach in November of 2024. Courtesy of: Ohio State Athletics
Patrick Cota proudly wore red, white and blue as a player of the U.S. Men’s National Indoor Field Hockey team. During his 13-year career, which spanned from 1999 to 2012, he competed in four Pan American Games, three Pan American Cups, five Indoor Pan American Cups and two Indoor World Cups.
More than a decade later, he will wear those colors again.
Cota, an Ohio State field hockey assistant coach, was hired as the U.S. Men’s National Indoor Field Hockey team head coach in November 2024 as the team prepares for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
“I am honored,” Cota said. “To be able to have a way to stay connected and help shape what my vision for men’s field hockey will look like in the U.S.”
A native of Camarillo, California, Cota was introduced to field hockey at age 15 by his soccer coach, Chuck Valencia, a member of the 1984 U.S. Men’s National Team.
From there, Cota began traveling to local field hockey tournaments and eventually advanced to the U.S. Junior Men’s National team system, starting on the U-16 team. He played through this league until he aged out.
In 1996-’97, Cota was on a team with eventual Ohio State field hockey head coach Jarred Martin. They competed togetherv for 12 years on the senior men’s national team, with Cota a defender and Martin a forward.
“The actual interaction to get to know each other, sit down and talk about families was probably on our first tour,” Martin said. “That started our hockey career interaction.”
Cota’s coaching career began in 2004, as a two-year assistant for the Michigan Wolverines, guiding them to NCAA tournament appearances and back-to- back Big Ten Tournament championships.
In 2010, Cota became assistant coach at Stanford Cardinal and served for 11 years, winning six conference titles and making nine NCAA appearances.
Cota took a leave of absence from Stanford University in 2021 to return to his alma mater UCLA, where he enrolled in the transformative coaching and leadership program in the School of Education.
After a year away from coaching, Cota got a call from Martin, who was hired by the Buckeyes in December of 2016.
“If you want to be the best in what you do, this is the department you want to be in at the school, to help raise a high profile of athletics and academics together,” Cota said.
During Cota’s tenure with the Buckeyes’, he’s gone 25-14 with back-to-back Big Ten tournament appearances in 2023 and 2024z
Cota now splits his time between Ohio State and the national team, bringing the philosophy of human integrity, dedication and relating to the players to both teams.
“He’s around athletes training for Los Angeles ‘’28 and national players that are at the forefront of our game,” Martin said. “He’s able to bring that back to Ohio State and add that element into our weekly schedule, which has been really fun to see.”
Cota said that growing indoor field hockey in the U.S. starts with preparing players to learn and seek their highest potential.
“Learning and developing the game underneath is important,” Cota said. “We want to push players to be the best, so that they want to be a part of this program.”
SIDEBAR: What’s the Difference
Outdoor field hockey is played with 11 aside on a wet turf, while indoor field hockey is played with five aside on a smaller, hardwood court.
We need more here–dimensions, tools, etc. Right now this is not complete enough to be included
