Fiona Minter brings experience and expertise to the new Field Hockey season

Jenny Allen, Staff Writer

VCU field hockey elevated former volunteer coach Fiona Minter to a full-time assistant coach, joining head coach Stacey Bean and assistant coach Shannon Pereira. 

Minter took the opportunity to become a volunteer assistant coach in February 2025 for the Rams. She dedicated her free time to help plan and oversee Ram practices, as well as travel to their spring games.  

Minter spent her first year in college as a student at American University, where she started all 17 games for the field hockey team. Minter then found her way to Old Dominion University, where she finished out both her field hockey and undergraduate career. 

Minter proved her coaching abilities with Nexus USA Field Hockey, a pipeline program to the USA Junior National Team. In this role, Minter developed and exceeded performance standards while overseeing both individual and team growth. 

Minter recently completed her master’s degree at VCU with a concentration in rehabilitation and mental health. She strives to incorporate it into her coaching style to go beyond helping players succeed on the field. 

“I can provide them resources, notice some signs, recognize, maybe reaching out at points and connecting them to the right resources that are needed for each athlete,” Minter said. 

Minter believes it is crucial for coaches to understand the challenges that come along with being a student-athlete, especially in recent years after name image and likeness deals were established. Coaches should be checking on student-athletes’ overall college experience as opposed to just focusing on their athletic performance.

“One of my things that I took away from my experience is, like, how to be not just a good coach on the field but off the field for being supportive of them in other ways,” Minter said. “Not everything has to be about your playing experience. Your college coach can impact you in a lot of other ways.”

Minter plans to use her degree to support athletes, along with her own student-athlete experience to make a connection with players. 

“I’ve been through the recent challenges that they have,” Minter said. “I’ve experienced it firsthand.” 

Despite her time as a student-athlete and coaching at the national level, Minter says volunteering has given her the best insight on what a full-time job with VCU would look like.

“I kind of got a small glimpse of what coaching would look like, and then was able to have that vision and then tailor it to what it would look like full-time moving forward,” Minter said. 

Bean praised Minter on her maturity, trusting her to pass on her knowledge and enhance the team’s strengths. Minter’s mentality will add a significant amount of diversity to the team and coaching staff, which is why she is the right fit for this position, according to Bean. 

The team’s ultimate goal this season is to win the Atlantic 10 Championship. In order to do so, Bean highlights that the mission is to focus on overall season progress rather than each individual game. 

With a season-long approach, Bean is confident that Minter’s new role will help achieve the team’s championship vision. 

“Between myself, Fiona and Shannon… you just can’t put a price tag on it,” Bean said.