Sept. 19, 2012
Going Deep: Field hockey Olympians with local ties talk about the sportPublished: Sunday, September 16, 2012, 7:05 AMDAVID BOHR, The Patriot-News
Amy Tran Swensen and Dana Risser have had the rare opportunity to experience field hockey at the highest level.Swensen, a Northern Lebanon grad, has been a member of the United States national team since 2001. Risser, currently Cedar Crest’s head coach, was a member from 2006 throughout 2008.
Both played in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, in which Team USA finished eighth. Swensen, the goalie, was also in the Long Olympics this August, in which Team USA was 12th out of 12 teams.
“Our team is very disappointed with our performance at London,” said Swensen, who played college hockey at UNC. “I don’t think our team performed to the best of its ability.”
Although Team USA did have a 1-0 upset win over Argentina, that was its only win. Swensen left London thinking more about what she and her teammates could have done better than how her opponents approached the game.
“We have to learn from other teams that do well, but we have to take care of ourselves,” Swensen said.Despite the letdown in London, Team USA has certainly improved over the last 12 years. In 2000 and 2004, it did not qualify for the Olympics. But when it comes to competing with the top nations, its an uphill battle in part because of how the sport is perceived in other nations.
“In other countries we’ve played against, they start playing around five years old,” Swensen said. “I started playing around 13, and I think that’s average among my teammates.”
Read the full release by the Patriot-News' David Bohr here.
Read the release on Risser building Cedar Crest into a power here.