In all honesty, once the Games end, shortly thereafter, we
begin to dream of the next event, the next game, the next Olympics. Whether you
won Gold, or had no medals to bring home, our pure drive as elite athletes
pushes us to want more, to better ourselves, our teammates, and our country.
USA Field Hockey returned to the pitch just a little over a
month after the Games. It’s funny though, how much can change in a month. With
a few players retired, a couple at new jobs, and a handful back in classes at
various colleges, more than half of our Olympic team was unavailable for our
upcoming tournament in Ireland. Fortunately, we have a fantastic pool of
athletes to pull from, including multiple players that trained with us
throughout the Olympic year and were extremely close contenders for the final
Olympic roster. Not to mention, we had a few new players that were just waiting
for their chance to step out on the big stage.
With a week of training camp before we headed overseas, I
was very curious to see how this new mix of players would come together. Yet, I
was extremely excited. There were fresh faces, along with old friends. We were
reunited again, as a new team. What happened in London didn’t matter anymore,
it was in the past. We had a new focus and a new excitement about us. From the
first day, you could tell these were the players that loved the game, that
wanted to be out on the field, and that were jumping at the opportunity to
prove they were the future of our program.
We arrived just days before the tournament started and
disappointingly lost our first game to Scotland. At this point, the tournament
could have gone many different ways. We could have given up knowing that we
just didn’t have our “full” roster present, or we could fight back and prove
that we are Team USA, we’re talented, and we don’t have any excuses. We did
just that. We roared back to win our pool, cross-overs, and land ourselves a
ticket to the final. Although we fell short, losing to a well-groomed
Australian side who had their full Olympic roster present, we were proud at
what we proved in such a sort preparation period. There is a lot to be said
about where our program is heading in the future. I am proud to be a part of
Team USA. Although the road ahead won’t be easy, I know we’re prepared to face
each obstacle head on. No excuses.
