Meet The Newest Woman Behind An NCAA Men's Hockey Bench: Julia Dessart

Julia Dessart made her NCAA men's hockey coaching debut this past weekend, and is one of only a few women coaching men's NCAA hockey.

Julia Dessart holds a very rare distinction.  She's one of very few women serving as an on-bench assistant coach in NCAA men's hockey.

Dessart stepped behind the bench with the Lawrence University Vikings in a two-game series against the Milwaukee School of Engineering, helping to guide the Vikings to a 1-0-1 weekend.

"I definitely didn't think about the implications of coaching the men's team until I was driving home from Saturday's win," Dessart said in a school news release. 

"To me, I was just coaching hockey. I took this on to be of help where I could as well as grow myself as a coach, learn some things from Wally (Lawrence coach ), and bring in some new ideas to the men to help improve the program." 

Dessart, 23, spent last season as an assistant coach with Lawrence University's women's hockey team after finishing a college hockey career of her own playing ACHA hockey for the University of Colorado.

"Julia has been a huge asset for our team and program," Lawrence men's coach Brett Wall said. "Her knowledge of the game, ability to communicate with the players and her preparation is some of the best I've been around in the game. She constantly comes with fresh ideas and thoughts, which have helped us have some early season success. She's not afraid to voice her thoughts and opinions on practice planning, lineups and in game adjustments. I'm looking forward to continuing to have Julia with us on the bench and on the ice at practice." 

Dessart remains with the Lawrence women's team as well, but has been working with both teams this season. With the Lawrence women's team enjoying a bye week, Dessart finally had the chance to make her on-bench debut with the men's program.

"Julia's role with the hockey program has grown during her time here, and she has become an integral part of the coaching staff," Lawrence Director of Athletics Jason Imperati said in the news release. "As a young coach, Julia has shown she is extremely capable, and we are very proud of her."

Other women serving as coaches in men's NCAA hockey include Kim Weiss and Lilly Holmes.