Q&A with Urbana HS head hockey coach Toby Heusser
IJAMSVILLE, Md. — Toby Heusser returns to Urbana HS to lead the Urbana Hawks Ice Hockey team. After two successful years as head coach for Good Counsel HS, due to his promotion with Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS), Toby resigned from Good Counsel. He is excited to be back with the Urbana Hawks. 鈥淭his is my community, where I live, where my three kids go to school and where I want to coach.鈥� Toby Heusser has been named MVHL Coach of the Year (twice), MSHL (Maryland State Hockey League) Coach of the Year and WCAC (Washington Catholic Athletic Conference) Coach of the Year.
Position with the team/club:
Toby Heusser: Urbana High School Ice Hockey- Head Coach
How long have you been coaching?聽
Heusser: I have been part of coaching ice hockey for almost 15 years. I have also coached high school football and lacrosse but unfortunately I can鈥檛 do it all 馃檪 With my own 3 kids highly involved in sports, my time is limited.
Urbana High School 2009-2018, 2022-
Good Counsel High School 2019-2021
Glenelg High School- I helped establish my high school’s ice hockey team in the mid 90鈥檚 who later went on to win the MSHL State Championship.
I am also the head coach for my son鈥檚 Frederick Freeze 8UA Team
What is your background in this sport?
Heusser: I started ice skating around the age of 4 years old. In youth hockey, I played for the Tri-City Eagles and Howard Huskies. My Eagles team, in their inaugural season (1993-94), advanced to nationals. At age 15, I scored a league-leading 62 goals and had 30 assists. In 1990, I was selected to compete for a USA select team that spent two weeks in Finland, Sweden and the Soviet Union. The squad went 2-4-2 and featured two future NHL players.
Two years later, I was invited to a USA Hockey player development camp in St. Cloud, Minn. Campers included future Olympians.
After high school I was a four-year starting wing for Towson (Md.) University鈥檚 Division I hockey team. My 1st collegiate goal was the game-winner vs. Navy in overtime and the most memorable game was tallying a hat trick (3 goals) against Michigan. My Senior year,聽 I received the Tigers鈥� Player鈥檚 Player Award.
Going into the 2022-23 season, what are your thoughts on the upcoming season?聽
Heusser: I am really excited for this year. As of now we have 31 players (the most in school history)聽 including 7 females. We have a lot of strong talent returning and 15 players (11 freshman) who were not on last year’s roster. We play in a tough conference and have some strong non-conference games scheduled to get us prepared for a strong playoff run. It’s a marathon, not a sprint so it is important that each player and coach come prepared and ready to work hard at practices.
Please describe the most memorable games/tournaments/championships your team has won.聽
Heusser: There have been so many, however the ones that standout are:
2010 MVHL Championship
2010 Frederick Cup Championship
2010 State Championship Game
2013 Regular Season Champions
2017 Regular Season Champions
2018 Frederick Cup Championship
2018 MVHL Championship
2021 MAPHL Championship (Good Counsel)
I always enjoy the UHS Alumni game each year and seeing the former players and catching up with them.
The other annual game that I always enjoy is Senior Night. As a coach it is an exciting and emotional game for me seeing how much these athletes have grown and matured on and off the ice.
How do you encourage the team after a disappointing loss?
Heusser: After a loss it is important to not just focus on the things that didn鈥檛 go well or mistakes we made but also point out the things that we did do well. I always look at games as 鈥渨e won or we learn鈥� and with ice hockey being a team sport we have to take our weaknesses and focus on them during practice time. I feel strongly that negative leaders attack their team when there鈥檚 a problem or loss, a positive leader works with their team to attack the problem. In addition, the players need to look at themselves as leaders and take the initiative to lead in the locker room and on the ice.
Describe your proudest coaching moment.
Heusser: I have many, including wins, championships, senior nights, alumni games鈥owever one proud moment was finishing #1 in the state for Team Academic GPA and being named the MSHL Academic All Star Team. As a team we earned a weighted GPA average of 3.857 and 19 players earned MSHL Academic All Star honors. I always express the importance of Family, Academics, and Athletics in that order,
What is the biggest life lesson you’ve learned from being a coach?
Heusser: Coaching today is more about the way you relate to players than it is about what you鈥檙e actually teaching them. Playing sports is much more than wins and losses. The relationships I gain and the lifelong friendships I have earned is much more important. When I am done coaching one day, I hope that every athlete I coached knows I care about them and love them. Unfortunately coaches in many instances are judged by how many wins or championships they had. That is fine, but more important to me is attending my former athletes’ graduation parties, weddings and seeing the birth of their children. I try to make a positive impact in and difference in their lives. I always loved the quote by one of my coaching role models John Wooden, 鈥淎 good coach can change a game, A great coach can change a life.鈥�
In terms of leadership, mentoring and coaching; as the head coach, I am not trying to create more followers, I want to create more leaders. One deciding factor for me to Leave Urbana for Good Counsel was I wanted to provide my assistant coach Sean Sun the opportunity to lead. Sean and I have a great relationship on and off the ice and we have gotten to trust each other and know what the other is thinking. I am proud of him and the things he learned and accomplished in the two years he has led the Hawks. I am excited we are reuniting to coach the Hawks.
What legacy do you hope to leave as a coach?
Heusser: When I am done coaching, I want to be able to say I left this team or the game better than I found it. I want to be known as a coach that cared about every player I ever coached, an empathetic and passionate coach and a coach that did it for the love of the game. Recently when I resigned from Good Counsel HS as the Ice Hockey coach, the AD thanked me and said in a letter, Toby you left this team in a much better position than you found it. That meant a lot to me and more than he probably knew since I don鈥檛 coach for personal recognition.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Heusser: I hope the Urbana Community including students and staff can help support and cheer on the Hawks this year as they deserve the recognition as other high school teams who represent UHS. It is different for ice hockey since they don鈥檛 play on the school campus, any chance you can get to the rink to see these boys and girls is much appreciated!
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