As she enters her 13th season at the helm of the University of Louisville field hockey team, Pam Bustin continues to raise the bar for her Cardinals on the national scene. Her enthusiasm and diligent work ethic have translated into success both on and off the field. Under Bustin's guidance, the Cards have won six conference championships - including three BIG EAST regular season titles in four years. Additionally, the Cards have been a mainstay in the National Field Hockey Coaches Top 20 rankings in each of the past nine seasons. The 2009 squad posted a 12-8 overall record and went 4-2 in conference play in the midst of one of the toughest schedules in the nation. U of L was also ranked in the NFHCA top 20 poll throughout the season, reaching as high as No. 13. In 2008, U of L won its third consecutive BIG EAST regular season championship and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Bustin was tabbed league Coach of the Year, marking the third time she has earned the honor in her 11 years at U of L. The Bustin Era at U of L... Since joining the Cardinals in 1998, Bustin has taken the then-cellar dwellers of the Mid-American Conference to three-time league champion. The Cards grabbed a share of their first regular season championship in 2002 with Bustin claiming MAC Coach of the Year honors. U of L followed that feat by winning the conference tournament in 2003 and earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Cards said good-bye to the MAC in 2004 by sweeping the regular season and successfully defending their tournament title. Bustin again took Coach of the Year honors for the Cards. The Cardinals joined the very competitive BIG EAST Conference in 2005 and had solid results while adjusting to a different style of play. In 2006, year two of its BIG EAST membership, U of L took a share of the regular season champion honors and earned a top seed in the league tournament. The 2006 Cards posted a 5-1 record en route to their first regular BIG EAST Conference championship. U of L amassed a 12-8 overall record in the midst of one of the toughest schedules in the nation in which ten of Louisville's games came against opponents ranked in the top 20. Bustin's Cardinals followed in 2007 with a share of the league's regular season title, going 14-6 overall and 5-1 in conference play. Blueprint for success... The 2000 squad's 14-8 campaign set a short-lived school record for most wins in a season. That same year, the Cardinals claimed their first national ranking, debuting at No. 17 in the NFHCA poll. Bustin was named the 2001 MAC Coach of the Year after leading the Cards to a record-setting 16-5 season. Louisville also weighed in as high as No. 6 in the NCAA rankings and remained in the NCAA and the NFHCA's top 20 throughout the entire season. Her 2002 team achieved the school's first MAC title and finished the season with a 13-7 record. During that time, the Cardinals reached the highest ranking in program history, No. 4 in the NFHCA poll. The 2005 Cardinals produced a high-octane offense, leading the BIG EAST and the nation in scoring. First team All-America selection and 2005 BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Year, Jessica Javelet, led the nation with 30 goals and 74 points, while All-West Region first team selection Janelle Avila was fifth in the nation with goals and tied for sixth with 49 points. In 2006, 2007 and 2008, U of L won back-to-back-to back BIG EAST regular season titles. Award-winning players on the field... Cultivating Leaders off the field... Bustin's teams have produced several NFHCA National Academic team members as well as numerous BIG EAST Academic All-Stars, All-MAC Academic, U of L Athletic Director's Honor Roll and Dean's List recipients and Ed Kallay award winners. Three of her players, Bustanoby, Hershey and Javelet, have earned NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. Javelet ended her career as Louisville's only three-time CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American and Bustanoby earned the honor in 2009. Numerous members of Bustin's teams have earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV honors. One of U of L's most highly decorated student athletes ever, Javelet was also named the 2006 BIG EAST/Aeropostale Female Scholar Athlete of the Year and was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year. Life before TEAM CARDINAL Prior to being named to the head coaching position at Hofstra. Bustin served as an assistant coach at Michigan State for four years, as the Lady Spartans enjoyed top 20 success. In 1990, Bustin became an assistant coach at Temple University. The Owls, a perennial national contender, made three consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament during her tenure, advancing to the final eight in 1991 and 1992. As a player A 1990 graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Bustin was a four-year letterwinner (1985-88) team captain, team MVP, an All-Atlantic 10 selection, a first team All-America selection and the Honda-Broderick Award nominee as female athlete of the year in 1988. UMass made four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances during her playing days, including a third place finish in 1987. From 1987 through 1989, Bustin played on the United States Under-21 Team, serving as team captain and competing in the 1986 , 1987, 1989 and 1990 U.S. Olympic Festivals. She helped capture a silver medal in the Junior Pan American Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1989. Also in 1989, Bustin was named to the U.S. Field Hockey team and played with the national squad through 1996. Bustin's international competition experience with the national team includes the Intercontinental Cup in New Delhi, India, the World Cup in Sydney, Australia, the World University Games in Sheffield, England, the Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba, in which the U.S. captured a bronze medal, the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, the Pan American Games in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, in which the U.S. captured the silver medal, and the Champions Trophy. She completed her playing career at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. From 2000 to 2002 she participated in the USFHA's United Airlines Field Hockey League. This elite level of competition was designed to allow top athletes the opportunity to play and train at a high level. The league included past and present members of the U.S. National Team, U.S. Olympians and collegiate and high school All-Americans. Bustin played with league champion South Team in 2000 prior to the creation of the Midwest Cyclones in 2001. Bustin led the Cyclones to consecutive second place finishes in 2001 and 2002. Coaching on the National Scene Bustin is a USA field hockey accredited Level III coach and instructs USA coaching courses throughout the country. This past summer, Bustin served as head coach for the Midwest High Performance team which trained at Louisville's own Trager Stadium. The team competed at USA Field Hockey's Women's National Championship in Virginia Beach, finishing fifth in the eight-team tournament. For the past five years, Bustin has helped guide the nation's best players down a long road to the United States' first Olympic appearance since the 1996 Atlanta Games. The berth was secured in April 2008 when USA Field Hockey marched through the Kazan Olympic Qualifier to claim one of the final three spots in the Beijing Games. In June, 2007, while serving as acting head coach for the national team for the AtaHolding Champions Challenge, she guided the USA to a best-ever fourth place finish. She was also part of the coaching staff as the USA earned a silver medal in the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro. Bustin began her stint as an assistant coach for USA Field Hockey in 2006 when she was selected to help prepare the team for the World Cup Qualifier - where they finished fourth to earn a trip to the World Cup. Prior to her time with the women's national team, Bustin was named assistant coach for the USA U-21 team which took the silver medal in the 2005 Pan American Games in San Juan. In July 2004, Bustin traveled to Sydney, Australia as a member of the USFHA U-19 Futures Elite team coaching staff. Her other coaching positions have included U.S. Developmental Camps (1989-90), the Futures Program in Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York and Kentucky (1991-2000), the Gold Medal U.S. Olympic Festival Midwest team (1994), and the US Developmental Super Camp (1995 and 1997). Bustin has served as the head coach for the USFHA `A' and 'B' camps since 1997. She served as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Under-18 Team in 1997, the U-19 Team in 1998; and in 1999 she was named assistant coach for the U.S. National U-20 team. Locally, Bustin has worked to help in the grass root development of field hockey in the local area. Throughout the late spring and early summer she and her U of L staff work with other local volunteers to organize K-6th grade boys and girls and coaches through practices and games. The goal is to introduce the sport, teach sound fundamentals, and eventually help to strengthen Louisville's future hockey talent.
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