Phil Sykes

Phil Sykes was a high-level competitive tennis player, playing #1 singles and doubles at Chabot Junior College. He had a scholarship offer to play at U Texas Pan American, but attended Cal State Hayward, graduating with a degree in kinesiology. Sykes joined the US National hockey (field) team after college and won a bronze medal at the 1995 Pan American Games before playing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Sykes went into coaching, starting as an assistant at Towson University. In 2003 he briefly served as interim head coach at Cornell before becoming the head coach at the University of Albany, a position he held through 2018. Sykes has been named America East Conference Coach of the Year three times (2008, 2009, 2014).