Ryleigh Heck

Ryleigh Anne Heck (born March 30, 2004) is an American college field hockey player for the North Carolina Tar Heels. She has won two NCAA championships with the Tar Heels, in 2022 and 2023, and was named the NFHCA national player of the year in 2023.

High school career

Heck was a three-time All-American and three-time state champion at Eastern Regional High School in New Jersey. She played alongside her senior sister Kara as a freshman in 2018, scoring 44 goals as the team became undefeated Tournament of Champions winners. She had been a center midfielder on her club team but was moved to center forward during her first season at Eastern. She totaled 78 goals in 25 games as a sophomore in 2019, as the team finished runners-up in the Tournament of Champions. She scored 76 goals in 14 games in the abbreviated 2020 season, when the state playoffs were not held. She was named the USA Today Field Hockey Player of the Year. As a sophomore in 2023, she led the team in scoring with 34 points on 13 goals and 8 assists, finishing the season with the winning goal of the title game penalty shootout in the 2023 NCAA tournament. She earned All-ACC and All-American first-team honors, the NFHCA National Player of the Year award, and the Honda Sports Award as the country's best player. She won gold with the national under-21 team at the 2023 Women's Junior Pan American Championship and competed at the 2023 Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup.

Personal life

Heck was raised in Shamong, New Jersey and now resides in Ocean City, New Jersey, the youngest of four children of Roy and Kerry Heck. Her father and her brother Jordan played college basketball at Stockton University; her mother played for James Madison's field hockey and lacrosse teams and coached Heck's last high school season; her brother Andrew played football at Ursinus College; her sister, Kara, played field hockey at Boston College and graduated in May 2024 and now plays field hockey at Rutgers University while attending Graduate School. Heck trained with the WC Eagles field hockey club.