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11 National Championships: Kelly Amonte Hiller on Winning Through Adversity
Join me and legendary Northwestern women’s lacrosse coach Kelly Amonte Hiller for an insightful and inspiring conversation about championship culture, adversity, and the mindset that drives sustained excellence. Kelly’s journey is a masterclass in resilience and evolution—from leading her team through an uncharacteristically tough start to the season, to capturing her ninth national championship as a coach on home turf. She shares the behind-the-scenes process of overcoming setbacks, the power of reflection, and the importance of getting everyone “rowing in the same direction.” Kelly opens up about the origins of her work ethic, the blue-collar values instilled by her family, and how embracing adversity and self-honesty have been critical for both personal and team growth. We dive deep into the philosophies that have shaped her dynastic program: a relentless commitment to hard work, the humility to look in the mirror, and the courage to constantly evolve. Kelly also discusses the impact of supporting her former players now turned coaches, the beauty of fostering growth in young women, and the ultimate legacy of her leadership—building a culture where true greatness is measured not just in wins, but in the long-lasting bonds formed along the way. About Kelly – Already a legend in the game as a player, Kelly Amonte Hiller has established herself as one of the sport's greatest coaches after building Northwestern Lacrosse into a dynasty. In May of 2005, Amonte Hiller etched her name in the annals of college athletics when she guided her upstart Northwestern team to an undefeated season and the first NCAA Lacrosse Championship ever won by a team outside the Eastern Time Zone, the first of an incredible nine national titles. Under Amonte Hiller’s direction the Wildcats most recently claimed the 2026 NCAA National Championship, her ninth as the head coach of the program. Amonte Hiller became the first Division I lacrosse coach (men’s or women’s) to win nine national titles, guiding NU to a championship win on home soil for the first time since 1986 (Maryland). The ’Cats took down three IWLCA No. 1-ranked squads throughout the course of the season, the most in a campaign in NCAA History. Northwestern has made six consecutive appearances in the NCAA Semifinals (2019-26), reaching the finals the last four consecutive seasons. After resurrecting a Northwestern program that had not competed at the varsity level in more than 10 years, Amonte Hiller led the Wildcats to the national semifinals 10 years in a row from 2005 to 2014 and tied an NCAA record with eight consecutive title game appearances in the process. Northwestern's dominance since its breakthrough 2005 season has been nothing short of legendary. Since 2004, Northwestern has gone 63-13 (.829) in the NCAA Tournament, making Amonte Hiller the winningest coach in tournament history. Along the way, Amonte Hiller has produced the nation's Tewaaraton Award winner in eight different seasons as well as the Honda Sports Award recipient on 10 occasions. Northwestern has featured 75 IWLCA All-Americans and won a total of 13 IWLCA positional Player of the Year awards (four attacker, five midfielder and four defender). Northwestern's rapid rise to national prominence under Amonte Hiller — particularly in an area of the country rarely associated with women's lacrosse — has caught the eyes of many, in and out of lacrosse. In 2011, ESPN The Magazine named Amonte Hiller one of the 20 best recruiters across all college sports, joining the likes of other multiple-time NCAA champion coaches Mike Krzyzewski of Duke (men's basketball) and Anson Dorrance of North Carolina (women's soccer). In 2012, the Big Ten Network profiled the NU head coach as one of 12 Big Ten coaching icons in the conference's history, putting her in the company of Big Ten legends such as Bobby Knight (Indiana), Bo Schembechler (Michigan) and Dan Gable (Iowa). In 2026, the NCAA Championship game between the Wildcats and UNC set a record with 657,000 viewers, making the first championship game hosted at Northwestern the most-watched women’s lacrosse game in history. In February of 2018, Amonte Hiller was announced as the head coach of United States Lacrosse Women's U19 team, where she guided the United States to a gold medal at the 2019 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) Women's U19 World Championship in Peterborough, Ontario. Four other Wildcats also found their way onto the team: Madison Doucette, Elle Hansen, Izzy Scane and Greta Stahl. Amonte Hiller led the United States to another gold medal at the 2024 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship in Hong Kong, China, after beating Canada 23-6. She mentored five fellow Wildcats on the U20 roster during the championship run, including Francesca Argentieri, Noel Cumberland, Hannah Rudolph, Madison Smith, and Madison Taylor. During the 2026 season, Amonte Hiller reached 400 career wins with a road win against Penn State. All 400 wins came at the helm of Northwestern, as she became the sixth coach in Division I women’s lacrosse history to reach the milestone. Here’s a few additional resources for you… Do you feel called to share your story with the world? Check out Gordon Publishing  Follow me on Instagram: @JonGordon11 Check out my newest book, The Power of Positive Habits.  Every week, I send out a free Positive Tip newsletter via email. It’s advice for your life, work and team. You can sign up now here and catch up on past newsletters. Ready to lead with greater clarity, confidence, and purpose? The Certified Positive Leader Program is for anyone who wants to grow as a leader from the inside out. It’s a self-paced experience built around my most impactful leadership principles with tools you can apply right away to improve your mindset, relationships, and results. You’ll discover what it really means to lead with positivity… and how to do it every day. Learn more here! Do you feel called to do more? Would you like to impact more people as a leader, writer, speaker, coach and trainer? Get Jon Gordon Certified if you want to be mentored by me and my team to teach my proven frameworks principles, and programs for businesses, sports, education, healthcare!
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