Scout Bio
Mark Bolding was named Yale’s Susan Cavanagh Head Coach for Women’s Ice Hockey in April of 2019, and his first year with the Bulldogs was a memorable one. However, his second season was, by far, the best in the history of the program, and he was named 2021-22 AHCA Coach of the Year and ECAC Coach of the Year while leading the team to the Frozen Four and its highest national ranking. Bolding is the first Yale coach to lead a women’s team to any NCAA “final four” event.
The 2019-20 team set a program record for wins with 17, including a school-best six consecutive, while the team totals for assists (2nd), points (3rd) and goals (4th) all made the record book. That 17-15-0 team made the ECAC Hockey Tournament after finishing fifth with a school-record 13 conference wins. The Elis took their playoff series at Harvard to three games before falling in triple overtime in the finale.
His 2021-22 squad broke the school record for wins (26), ECAC wins (16), shutouts (10), goals (123), shorthanded goals (9) and more, while finishing second (Yale best) in the standings. The Elis were ranked among the top 10 most of the season in both the Pairwise and national polls and finished fourth in the final USA Hockey/USA Today Poll. His second Yale team won the program’s first conference semifinal, hosted the ECAC Championship Weekend for the first time and had its first NCAA appearance.
Bolding took over as the 11th head coach in Yale Women’s Ice Hockey history after building a Division III national powerhouse at his alma mater, Norwich University, which captured national championships in 2011 and 2018.
During his tenure at Norwich, he experienced record-setting success and compiled a 266-68-22 (.778) overall record. He guided the Cadets to the NCAA Division III national semifinals seven times and won nine New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) titles.
Bolding became the seventh coach in NCAA Division III history to reach the 200-win milestone. He was named the American Hockey Coaches’ Association (AHCA) National Coach of the Year three straight seasons (2010, 11, 12) and won a fourth time in 2018.
In addition to the team success, Bolding coached 52 NEHC All-Conference Players, 25 All-New England Hockey Writers All-Stars and 17 AHCA All-Americans. In 2012, Norwich forward Julie Fortier was the school’s first recipient of the Laura Hurd AHCA Women’s Ice Hockey Division III Player of the Year.
Bolding served two stints as an assistant coach for the Norwich men’s hockey team under Mike McShane. During the 1999-2000 season, Bolding helped the Norwich men win their first national championship with a dramatic 2-1 win over Wisconsin-Superior.
A native of Red Deer, Alberta, Bolding was a standout defenseman during his collegiate playing days at Norwich, serving as the team captain for three of his four seasons. Bolding finished his NU career with 94 points. His 73 assists put him alongside the all-time career assist leaders at the school. In 2005, Bolding was inducted into the Norwich University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Bolding resides in New Haven with his wife, Kari, and their five children: Christian, Corinne, Dayne, Kylee and Makenna.