Schenectady, New York – After leading the Union College women's ice hockey program for eight years, Josh Shiba It was announced Saturday afternoon that he would be stepping down from his head coaching position to join the coaching staff of PWHL's New York.
In this role, Siva will reunite with PWHL New York's new head coach and former Colgate University head coach Greg Fargo. Siva served as an assistant coach to Fargo for four years in Hamilton from 2012-2016 before moving to Schenectady.
“I want to thank Josh for all he has done for our student-athletes and for the hard work he has put into our women's hockey program over the past eight years. Opportunities to coach at the professional level don't come around very often, and I wish Josh all the best in his new position,” said Athletic Director Jim McLaughlin, Class of 1993. “I look forward to finding the next leader of our women's hockey team and watching the program continue to move forward.”
“I would like to thank my student-athletes, President David Harris, Jim McLaughlin, the coaching staff and the entire Union College community for the kindness and support they have shown me and my family over the past eight years,” Siva said. “I am so grateful for this experience and all that I have learned through it. I would not be the coach I am today without Union College. From the talented women in my locker room, the new facilities, the scholarships and the highly impressive degree, I believe the best is yet to come for Union women's hockey. Union College will always hold a special place in my heart.”
As the winningest coach in Union women's hockey history, Siva and the team have made strides in both wins and competitiveness over the past two seasons. The team won 11 games during the 2022-23 season, including their first win against a nationally ranked team. Also, the team's 19 wins over the past two seasons are the most in any two-year span in the program's Division I era. The past two seasons saw three new entries in the team's single-season goals and points record books and three of the program's nine hat tricks as a DI program.
Additionally, Shiva has recruited student-athletes and guided them to success off the ice. Union players have been named to 125 ECAC Hockey All-Academic Teams in the past eight seasons, four College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honorees and two recent graduates (Meredith Killian '24 and Alison Smith Twenty-four students were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa during the year. The team also continued its longstanding involvement and support of the local community through a variety of initiatives both on and off the rink.
The future is bright for the Union women's hockey program with the recent addition of athletic scholarships and the planned construction of a new hockey rink in 2025. A national search for the program's next head coach will begin immediately.
