College Bound Athlete: Kayden Hinchey

Recent Glastonbury High School graduate Kayden Hinchey will play lacrosse at Lynchburg University in Virginia. Hinchey is pictured with his parents, Scott and Tina, and sister, Kelsey.

Following consecutive all-conference lacrosse selections, Kayden Hinchey will make the voyage to Virginia.
           
“Extremely proud and excited to announce my commitment to further my academic and athletic career at the University of Lynchburg,” Hinchey announced on Instagram. “Special thank you to my family, especially my dad who has coached me since I picked up a stick. Also a huge thank you to my pops who has pushed me to be my best every day.”
           
Hinchey, who graduated from Glastonbury High School last month, said he went through an exhaustive search last summer as he talked to several colleges and showcased his skills for prospective schools.   
           
Ultimately it was Lynchburg that piqued his interest the most. 
           
“When I got to Lynchburg I got this really good feeling that I was at home,” recalled Hinchey. “The coaching staff and everyone at the school were very welcoming and very accommodating. I felt like it was a very good situation.”
           
Lacrosse has been a major part of his entire life. Several of his family members have played the sport, including his father and longtime coach Scott Hinchey, who played at the University of Massachusetts before taking over the boys’ program at GHS.
           
Kayden said that ever since he could remember he had a stick in his hands, and began playing competitively at the age of five. 
           
The years of skill development and tutelage from his father have led to the point where he became the team’s ultimate weapon, leading the team in points scored over the last two seasons. He was equally good setting up his teammates as he was at putting the ball in the back of the net.
           
“As a kid, I would always go to the high school practices and games because my dad was the coach,” recalled Kayden. “I think that paid off in the long run because of how I view the game. I feel like I have a good view of the field, as a coach would.”
           
His father, who has coached him since youth lacrosse, called his son “a coach on the field, who understands the game.”
           
“His biggest asset is his unselfishness,” Scott added. “He always makes the best lacrosse play.”
           
Those traits will serve him well with his new college team, who are coming off an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) championship, the team’s second straight conference crown and ninth title overall. 
           
Kayden said the team’s success was one of the reasons that he decided to make Virginia his home base for the next four years, saying the school was the “total package.”
           
Having grown up in Glastonbury and around family his entire life, he said he will struggle with being so far away. Along with lacrosse being a family affair, the Hincheys also enjoy fishing and Kayden said he used fishing trips with his father and grandfather to unwind. 
           
This spring yielded championship results for the father-son duo, who ended their final season together with a conference championship as the Guardians beat Simsbury on 12-4 to win the Central Connecticut Conference-Central title in May
           
Kayden called the triumph over rival Simsbury as the crowning achievement, adding, “It was a great accomplishment and such a great memory with the boys. This season was really awesome; we had a lot of fun”
           
He’ll study business and finance at Lynchburg as he joins his Hornets’ program led by Steve Koudelke, who has coached the program for 25 years.
           
With Kayden leaving the nest, Scott said it will be an odd feeling not coaching his son for the first time in many years, but added, “I’ll enjoy it. He’s going to a program where he’ll get some good coaching. I’m happy for him.”