PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown University women’s water polo head coach Jackie Puccino announced the hiring of Jessica McDonagh as an assistant coach for the program.
McDonagh joins Brown having coached at St. Francis High School in Sacramento, Calif., (August 2015-to-November 2017) and at the American River Water Polo Club (June 2009-to-July 2018) in Sacramento. Most recently, McDonagh was working in college athletics in student-athlete development as the Associate Director of Student-Athlete Engagement at Babson College.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jessica McDonagh as the new assistant coach for Brown women’s water polo,” said Puccino.
“Jessica is an incredibly intelligent, motivated, and passionate coach who is going to contribute enormously—immediately—to our program and to the sport as a whole. A standout Division I athlete at Marist and a three-time All-MAAC First Team selection, Jessica brings a deep understanding of the student-athlete experience. Her extensive background in athlete development, combined with years of coaching and her expertise in center play and working with goalies, round out our staff’s strengths beautifully. Jessica’s leadership, experience, and relentless drive make her a tremendous asset to our program.”
Prior to her role at Babson, she served as the Senior Associate Director of Club Sports at Northeastern University (August 2021-t0-July 2024), a Student-Athlete Development & Success Assistant at Frostburg State University (September 2020-June 2021) prior to working as a development intern at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (May-to-September 2019) and a Student-Athlete Development intern (September 2019-to-May 2020) while a candidate for a Masters of Science degree in Sport Management and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts.
A graduate of Granite Bay High School in Granite Bay, Calif., McDonagh (née Hamby) played college water polo at Marist University. She appeared in four Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship tournaments, was named All-MAAC First Team three-straight seasons (2013-15) and was twice named to the MAAC All-Tournament Team (2014-15). She ranked second on the team as a senior with 50 goals and finished her career in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., with 247 goals including a career-best 84 during her junior season.
A three-time all-section first-team selection, the Sac-Joaquin Section Most Valuable Player and a league MVP during her high school tenure, the Sacramento native graduated from Marist with a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations with a minor in Business.
Information courtesy Brown University Athletics Communications
