LeadHER Sports

LeadHer was founded based on a passion I have to impact young ladies in a powerful way.  Sports is a fantastic platform to teach life lessons and we want to start teaching these life lessons to kids at an earlier age and continue that training as they grow and develop through college.  Each player will receive quality hockey training, inspired by play at the international level plus we will have the opportunity to nurture our character and leadership skills. It’s important that your daughters explore who they are and find ways to use their strengths and build up others to maximize the success of the team.  Life can be challenging even at a young age and through our sessions we want to equip these young ladies with tools that will help them navigate this pressure-filled society.  The objective is to have a clear skill focus and introduce a character and leadership lesson each session. We look forward to taking this journey with your daughter!  Please reach out if you have any questions (Melisa Meccage - mmeccage@zagsports.com).

Learn more HERE - Small Group Training

Learn more HERE - Recruiting & PErformance

Who Am I?

My name is Melisa Meccage and I am the director and founder of LeadHER. I had the privilege of playing and studying at the University of Iowa, where we were two time Big Ten champs and Final Four participants. Following my senior year, I was named 1st Team All American, Big Ten Player of the Year and named to the USA National Team. After my Junior and Senior USA National Team experience, I played in the club system in the field hockey powers of Argentina and Belgium. All of these playing experiences informed my approach toward the development of this sport for our aspiring players and inspired me to start my career in coaching. I began my coaching career at the University of Virginia for two years, then transitioned back to the University of Iowa for two years. Most recently, I coached at Princeton University, where we won the 2012 National Championship while winning 13 of 14 Ivy League Championships. I also had the opportunity to coach many Olympians and National Team players. In 2016, I left coaching to join the company I cofounded, Zag Tours, while also founding LeadHER. At Zag, we take teams (of all sports) across the globe to grow players on and off the field, so I am often traveling the field hockey globe learning the latest and greatest training and tactics. Field Hockey has given me so many opportunities and I am PASSIONATE about this sport, which is why I started LeadHER. I have nearly 50 players playing in college who started training with me in elementary school! While the hockey development is very important, how each player develops as young ladies is a priority. As such, my program emphasizes character and leadership development. I have also lived this experience. I am a mom of four children. We have two girls who play field hockey in 6th and 8th grade and I have two sons. One is in 8th grade and plays baseball and basketball and my oldest committed to UVA, before deciding to take a professional baseball opportunity as a 2nd round draft pick for MLB Milwaukee Brewers. I am excited to bring all of this experience to you and share my passion with you and your daughter as we take this exciting journey together!