Colleen Niklaus

Educator by profession, coach by passion, Colleen brings years of lacrosse experience to Team NorCal Lacrosse.  She was a star player for the UC Davis Women’s Lacrosse team, where she earned MVP honors, as well as played for the all-stars Northern California Nationals Tournament team to compete with the best in the nation back East.  After college, she continued to play for Bay Area post-collegiate teams until finally devoting all her time to coaching.

Colleen brings over 25 years of coaching experience to our coaching staff, including 6 years as Head Coach of San Francisco’s Saint Ignatius College Prep Girls’ Lacrosse program, who she led to numerous #1 rankings in California.  Colleen then turned her focus to youth lacrosse in Santa Cruz, where she helped start a girls’ program and has coached many girls’ and boys’ teams over the years.  In 2020 and 2021, she started a girls’ program at Scotts Valley High School.  In their 1st official CIF season in 2022, they were Co-League Champions and advanced to the Quarterfinals of CCS Playoffs, in which they lost to the #3 Seed in Double Overtime.  In 2023, their 2nd official CIF season, they were sole League Champions and made it all the way to the CCS Semi-Finals, before losing to one of the two traditional powerhouses.

Colleen has a knack for bringing out the best in her players; she has a passion for helping develop the “whole child” in addition to developing better lacrosse players.

Before devoting all her time to Team NorCal Lacrosse, first for 9 years as Director of Girls’ Programs, now as Executive Director, she was a 20-year veteran high school teacher of Spanish and PE; she also holds a Master’s degree in Education, with an emphasis in Language Development.  She lives in Santa Cruz with her husband and two children.

In addition to coaching, Colleen is passionate about cultural exchange and language development, and enjoys combining her passions via international lacrosse.  She is currently the Head Coach for the Swiss Women’s National Team and will be leading the charge at the 2026 World Lacrosse Women’s Championship.