Aug. 1, 2003
SANTO DOMINGO - Old Dominion field hockey head coach and the U.S. Field Hockey women's national team begins its quest for Pan American gold and a 2004 Olympic berth when the U.S. takes on Jamaica at 5:30 Sunday, Aug. 3 at the Parque del Este hockey stadium.
The winner of the Pan Am Games earns the continent's automatic berth in the Olympic Games, and a gold medal in Santo Domingo would alleviate the need for the U.S. team to travel to the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in March, 2004.
Standing in the way of the U.S. hopes is a field of top teams from North, South and Central America led by reigning world champion Argentina. The only champion the women's Pan American Games women's tournament has ever had, Argentina won the FIH World Cup in December, 2002 to add to a collection of impressive honors that includes Pan Am gold medals in 1987, '91, '95 and '99 and an Olympic silver medal in 2000.
The U.S. team features five players returning from the 1999 silver medal U.S. Pan Am squad including former Lady Monarch Jill Reeve (1989-92) and five-time Pan Am team member, Tracey Fuchs. Fuchs has competed in every Pan Am field hockey tournament since the women's sport was added to the Games programme in 1987.
"At my first one (Pan Am Games), "I don't think it was a qualifier for the Olympics at that time, and I was just so happy to be in my first major tournament," said Fuchs. "But since this is one way to get in to the Olympics, it makes it really special and makes the Pan Am Games a really good tournament for our team."
The U.S. team was one of the first to arrive in Santo Domingo and has spent its time getting accustomed to the new - and often dry - turf at the newly constructed hockey stadium. International field hockey is played on a wet artificial turf.
"It's nice to be here early and get used to the turf, the bounces and the lack of water," said Fuchs. "So we'll be ready for anything whether it's wet, dry or whatever, we'll be ready to go."
U.S. head coach Beth Anders, who has taken a leave of abscence from her Old Dominion program to coach the U.S. National Team, is another veteran of the Pan American Games after coaching the team to a bronze medal in 1991. The 1984 Olympic bronze medallist has been impressed with her team's effort since arriving in Santo Domingo.
"They're working hard," said Anders on her team. "They have a great attitude. They're preparing, they're thinking and they're gradually getting focused into what they need to do."
The U.S. breezed to a four-game sweep of Jamaica during a series at the team's national training center in Virginia Beach in June, but Anders hasn't let her team overlook the Jamaicans on the Pan Am schedule.
"We have to respect everyone," said Anders "To achieve our goals, it is going to be very important what we do and how we perform in each game. We just have to stay aggressive and stay within what we need to do."
In addition to Reeve and Fuchs, the U.S. team includes 1999 Pan American Games veterans Kate Barber (West Chester, Pa.), Katie Beach (West Lawn, Pa.), and goalkeeper Peggy Storrar (Mahopac, N.Y.).
Kelli Gannon (Escondido, Calif.), Tara Jelley (Greenfield, Mass.), Tracey Larson (Morrisville, Pa.), Carrie Lingo (Rehoboth Beach, Del.), Kristen McCann (Allentown, Pa.) and Keli Smith (Selinsgrove, Pa.) were all members of the U.S. World Cup team last December, while Jessica Coleman (Oceanport, N.J.), Robyn Kenney (Readington, N.J.), Dina Rizzo (Walpole, Mass.), Amy Tran (Grantville, Pa.) and Abbey Woolley (Ocean City, N.J.) joined the team for last month's Champions Challenge in Italy.
The U.S. will compete in Pool B with Canada, Jamaica and Uruguay, while Pool A includes Argentina, Chile, Trinidad & Tobago and host Dominican Republic.
For more information on the U.S. team and the Pan Am Games, log onto www.usfieldhockey.com.