California Golden Bears Athletics
Field Hockey
- Title:
- Donna Fong Co-Director of Field Hockey
- Email:
- stevedanielson@berkeley.edu
Steve Danielson was named Donna Fong Director of Field Hockey in March 2026. Danielson comes to Cal after spending the previous five seasons as the associate head coach at the University of New Hampshire, where he helped lead the Wildcats to an America East Conference title and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2025.
Prior to UNH, Danielson was a technical director for 11 seasons at Stanford University. While at Stanford, he helped lead the team to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, two Elite Eights, six conference titles and a top-20 national ranking each year.
In 2018, Danielson was inducted into the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame as one of the most accomplished USA Men's National Team players.
His international playing career spanned 21 years (1989-2011) and included representing Team USA at the 1996 Olympic Games, as well as winning a bronze medal at the 1995 Pan American Games. He represented Team USA in the 2003 and 2010 Indoor World Cups. In addition to his international career, he played professionally for two years in Australia and one year in Scotland.
In addition to his tenure at Stanford, Danielson has coached with a number of national programs. He began serving as the West Coast Region Men’s High Performance Coaching Director and a consultant to the U.S. Men’s National Team in 2017. He has served as a USA Field Hockey Level 2 Coach Educator since 2018.
In 2015, Danielson was a coach on the Indoor National Team that toured Europe. One year earlier, he coached a squad at the Women's National Championship. In 2013, Danielson served as the Women's National Championship Coach for the West Region and was the assistant coach and manager for the USA Men's National Team at the World League Round 2 competition in Rio, Brazil.
In 2012, Danielson earned Level III coaching accreditation and served as the Women's National Championship Coach for the West Region. He was also the World League Round 1 assistant coach and manager of the USA Men's National Team, as well as an assistant coach for the USA Under-17 Men's National Team.
He has been the director of Men's High Performance Olympic Development for the Northern California Region since 2011 and has served as the Women's High Performance Olympic Development coach for the West Region since 2009.
Danielson has been part of the Rush Field Hockey Program since 2001. He is an accredited USA Field Hockey coach who has worked with the California High Performance Training Center for the men's program since 2007 and the women's program since 2008.
