Our Coaches

Meredith Civico
Meredith Civico is the Head Field Hockey Coach at Rutgers University, the state university of New Jersey, and is regarded as one of the top coaches in US hockey. 

She is now into her 11th season as Head Coach. 

Meredith has previously coached the Indoor Junior National Team and has captained the U.S. National Indoor Team, leading them on successful international tours to Europe and Argentina. She has played in and now coaches the U.S. High Performance group, and she is the head coach of NJ Futures Elite Academy. She has also recently returned from South Africa after a tour as the Assistant Coach to the USA Indoor National Team. 

Meredith won an NCAA D1 National Championship with the University of Maryland in 2005 and was a high school state champion with Ocean City High School. 

Together with Joey, she is the owner and director of Mid-Jersey Knights Field Hockey Club. They have three children, Noah, Elodie and John-John - who you will definitely meet! 

Joey Civico 
Originally from Sheffield, England, Joey crossed the pond in the summer of 2010. And now you have Mid-Jersey Knights.

A USAFH Level III qualified coach, the highest level of coach attainable in the US, he is currently an Assistant Coach at Rutgers University, Joey constantly seeks to improve the level of hockey in this country through his work in Division 1 colleges, with USA boys East Coast High Performance, with USA Young Women's High Performance, USA Men team and now with Mid-Jersey Knights FHC. 

Prior to his current position at Rutgers, he was the Performance Director at Lafayette College, a post he held having previously been the Associate Head Coach at Fairfield University, a program he helped guide to the best record in its history  (while at the same time completing his masters). Joey brings years of not only Division 1 college coaching experience, but also international experience. He has played in England and in Spain and was the Head Coach at Wapping Hockey Club before moving to the US. He is also a certified specialist goalkeeping coach. 

He is the co-director of Mid-Jersey Knights FHC.  


Ajai Dhadwal 
Ajai Dhadwal returned to Rutgers and Knights field hockey in 2024 for his second stint as a field hockey assistant coach. Dhadwal returns to the Scarlet Knights coaching staff where he previously was an assistant coach from 2017 to 2021.

Dhadwal is a highly accomplished professional player on the international level with the USA Men's Field Hockey team. He has over 100 international caps and has served as a team captain. He is currently playing with Team USA at the FIH Hockey5s World Cup in Muscat, Oman.

The Agoura Hills, Calif. native earned an undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins, where got his start in coaching as an assistant there for three seasons. Dhadwal spent two years coaching at Brunel University London, coaching the men’s and women’s university teams. He also was the head coach in 2015 for Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego, Calif.