(Photo: Reagan Smith/WCSN)
MacKenzie Lyons is a Scottsdale native who found her passion for hockey while growing up in Arizona. Now, she returns to coach the next generation of women’s hockey players in the Valley.
Lyons joins Arizona State University Women’s hockey head coach Lindsey Ellis as a defensive minded assistant coach for the team’s upcoming campaigns.
“I wanted to come back home, and coaching was something that I got a passion for and I was really interested about it,” Lyons said. “So, I reached out to head coach Lindsey [Ellis]. We got to talking and I got this great opportunity to help out with my home state.”
Lyons’ passion for hockey is a family affair, with her father and brothers playing the sport.
“My whole family is from Chicago,” Lyons said. “My dad started playing hockey in college just for fun. My brothers started playing, and then we moved out here. I figure skated until I was seven. When I turned seven I realized it wasn’t for me. I loved watching my brothers’ games and loved the competitiveness of it. Hockey being a team sport is something that I really wanted…I was just like ‘hockey is for me.’”
Even before Lyons had started to attend college, she was aware of the program coach Ellis and ASU were trying to build. The timing however, just wasn’t correct.
“Unfortunately, I had already started playing college before this team got created, but I was always really interested,” Lyons said. “Coming back and being a part of this is amazing.”
Lyons attended Nichols College in Dudley, Mass., where she was the team captain for three years.
“My high school career took me to Pennsylvania to play prep school,” Lyons said. “Then I went to play college hockey in Massachusetts. My passion for wanting to coach started my junior year of college. We got a new coach and he had a great passion for coaching.”
The development of women’s hockey in Arizona is another reason why Lyons wanted to return to her home state to coach the Sun Devils.
“Just seeing the growth of women’s hockey in Arizona is something that I couldn’t have ever dreamt of,” Lyons explained. “From playing around the Valley, growing up and having only one girl’s team, and the first season of ASU only had nine girls, it was rough. Now to see that we have x amount of girls that want to come, but we just don’t have room for [them yet]. Seeing that is unbelievable. It’s great to see, especially in Arizona.”
From what she has viewed so far in the CHEL League, Lyons sees a lot of potential in future seasons.
“The talent on this team is amazing, especially since I focus a lot on the defense,” Lyons said. “The girls that came in from out of town, just bringing the skills that they grew up with. Bringing that here and being able to instill that on other players that grew up other places or grew up here in Arizona. Having that skill level out there is going to make us go so far.”
There is a lot of unknown with the upcoming season, but Lyons is excited to coach this group of girls.
Lyons added: “Just being able to teach girls what I learned, just having them have the same opportunities is what it’s all about.”
