January 07, 2025
Paige Haehlke
Amy Budde ’19 returns to the College as Head Women’s Hockey Coach
Amy Budde ‘19 is living her dream.
After playing four years on the Forester women’s hockey team and professionally for another five, Budde was thrilled to be named the Lake Forest College Head Women’s Hockey Coach last fall.
“It was a no-brainer,” Budde said of the decision to coach the team she used to captain. “This had been my dream job since I was 18 years old. Even as I've lived in some of the most beautiful countries in the entire world, there’s still no community as close-knit, caring, and dedicated as Lake Forest College.”
A formidable on-ice presence at Lake Forest, Budde continued her playing career for two seasons on one of the top teams in the Swedish Women’s Hockey League, joined the Premier Hockey Federation for two seasons with the Buffalo Beauts, and played across Europe one season with an Austrian European Women’s Hockey League team.
After five years on the professional circuit, Budde is happy to be back in the Forest, where she has felt at home since first stepping foot on campus as a high schooler on a recruitment tour.
“The sense of community was so special both as a student and as an athlete,” Budde said of her four years as a Forester. “Through hockey, I made some of my best friends and learned how to be a leader, and as a student I learned how to be a good friend and how to manage my time. I found that at Lake Forest, the more you give to your community, the more the community gives back to you.”
“Even as I've lived in some of the most beautiful countries in the entire world, there’s still no community as close-knit, caring, and dedicated as Lake Forest College.”
In addition to her experience on the rink, Budde has worked in other capacities as a coach, player consultant, communications manager, and in marketing and customer success. Through all these experiences, she fulfilled lifelong goals.
“My dream was to play professional hockey, and I got to do that in Sweden,” Budde said. “Buffalo was more about my career and learning more about sports marketing, and in Austria, I wanted to have fun, play hockey for one more year, and just have the time of my life.”
Her years playing professionally in Europe and in the US, as well as working for data analytics company Helios Hockey, equipped Budde with a diverse set of skills and experiences that inform how she leads the Lake Forest College women’s hockey team. She played different positions than she did in college and learned how to use data to analyze athletes’ performances.
“All of my experiences prepared me to come in and take over this program,” Budde said. “They each taught me something different about how to be a head coach and give feedback. I got to work with incredible hockey coaches and players and see first-hand how they run practices and be part of a successful team.”
Budde’s coaching philosophy is player-driven, and she puts their goals first.
“My perspective is that goals should come from the players themselves,” Budde said. “My job is to help facilitate their goal, which is to win our conference, win the Slaats Cup, and go to the NCAA tournament.”
As Budde has gotten to know the players and work with them throughout the season, she’s enjoyed witnessing their development and having a hand in their success.
“Being their coach has been really rewarding and incredible,” Budde said. “You can see how much the team has improved and how much they’re buying into the systems and coming together to play the way I know they can. They've been an amazing group to work with.”