Charlotte-based US Women’s Field Hockey team preps for 2024 Summer Olympics
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CHARLOTTE SPORTS LIVE) — We are just a few months away from the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The United States has almost 500 athletes already qualified in 30 different sports.
Sixteen of those athletes are on the women’s field hockey team, which is headquartered right here in Charlotte.
After missing out on the 2021 games in Tokyo, these women are more motivated than ever.
A game-winning goal that got them one step closer to their ultimate goal.
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The US women’s field hockey team pulled off three straight shutouts earlier this year in the Olympic qualifiers to punch their ticket to Paris, which will be the team’s first Olympic appearance since 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
“Just like that fight back over the last four years, it’s just something that none of us will take for granted,” says USA Field Hockey teammate Brooke DeBerdine.
None of them were on the roster in Rio.
“Internationally, we’re definitely inexperienced to other teams but I think what’s special about us is that we don’t let that be an excuse,” DeBerdine continues.
Head coach David Passmore has Olympic experience and knows what it takes to be successful on the world stage.
“What really impressed me and helped us deliver the qualification was how the athletes were prepared mentally and how they prepared themselves mentally to deal with pressure,” said Passmore.
There will be no time for nerves as the US will face current second-in-the-world, Argentina, in their opening match.
“At the moment, they’re a better team than we are,” Passmore said. “They’ve got a lot of talent. They’re a much older team, so their talent is not only mature, it’s got the worldly experience of what to do and when in major games.”
Ashley Hoffman is a veteran on the team with 116 caps, and although Paris will be her first Olympic appearance, Hoffman has some valuable insight on what to expect.
Her mother, Brenda, was the youngest member of the 1984 Olympic team that won a bronze medal in Los Angeles.
“She had her bronze medal at home, of course, so I’ve been looking at it since I was very little,” Hoffman recalls. “I would bring [it] into school for show and tell. so it really, for me, was like that ‘If you see it, you believe you can be it.'”
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The United States has qualified and competed in seven out of the 12 summer games since the sport was introduced by the International Olympic Committee in 1980.
With the team now headquartered in North Carolina, these women hope they can inspire the next generation to chase their Olympic dreams and grow the sport.
“Moving to Charlotte has been a big opportunity because it’s not huge here,” says DeBerdine. “A lot of us are from the East Coast where it’s a more populated sport, so that had been awesome coming and a bunch of girls get involved with the local clubs so I think we’re doing a good job of trying to grow it and we’ll keep on that.”
The team hasn’t even been in Charlotte for a year. They broke ground on the training site last May on the UNC Charlotte campus and were able to practice for the first time in September.
The team has expressed their love of Charlotte and are excited about getting more involved in the sports community here.
Many of the players got to experience their first Charlotte FC game this past weekend and said they had so much fun cheering them on.
Come July, we will all be cheering them on.
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