US Field Hockey News

USA Field Hockey Begins Olympic Qualifying Quest in Australia

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The USA Field Hockey women’s national team begins its quest for a 2004 Olympic Games berth this week as the team departs for Australia to continue its preparations for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Auckland, New Zealand.

The Olympic Qualifier is scheduled for March 18-28 in Auckland, and will feature ten teams vying for the final five remaining spots in the Athens Olympic Games.

“We feel good heading into the tournament,” said USA head coach Beth Anders “There are still some things we need to keep working on, but we’ve been getting better and more consistent with our skills and decision making. I like where we are right now.”

In Australia, the USA enters the Southern Hemisphere training phase of its preparations with an eight-game series of games against Australia’s developmental squad, the VIS Vipers club team and Victoria’s U18 men’s squad, Feb. 15-29. The USA will continue on to Auckland at the beginning of March.

At the Qualifier, the USA will begin play in Pool B of the tournament against Korea, Spain, Japan and Russia. Pool A includes top-seeded Great Britain, Germany, New Zealand, Ireland and Ukraine. As many as five Olympic berths could be determined at the Qualifier depending on the outcome of a best-of-three series between Russia and Olympic host Greece in Auckland prior to the tournament. A Greece victory in the series would give the home team a spot in the Olympic Games, while a Russia win would ensure five teams will advance to the Games from the Qualifying Tournament. The Greece/Russia series is scheduled for March 11-14 in Auckland.

The 18-member USA team includes 2000 Olympic Qualifier veterans Kate Barber (West Chester, Pa.), Katie Beach (West Lawn, Pa.), Tracey Fuchs (Centereach, N.Y.), Tara Jelley (Greenfield, Mass.), Tracey Larson (Morrisville, Pa.) and goalkeeper Peggy Storrar (Mahopac, N.Y.).

The six USA veterans will be joined on the qualifier team by fellow Pan American Games team members Carrie Lingo (Rehoboth Beach, Del.), Kristen McCann (Allentown, Pa.), Dina Rizzo (Walpole, Mass.), Keli Smith (Selinsgrove, Pa.), Amy Tran (Grantville, Pa.), Abbey Woolley (Ocean City, N.J.) and 1999 Pan Am silver medalist Mimi Smith (Virginia Beach, Va.).  Forward Kelli Gannon (Escondido, Calif.) will miss the tournament to treat a recurring injury.

The team also includes some of the youngest members of the USA squad including April Fronzoni (Larksville, Pa.), Kristi Gannon (Escondido, Calif.), Meredith Keller (Wilmington, Del.), Angie Loy (Loysville, Pa.) and Tiffany Snow (Escondido, Calif.).

The teams earning spots in the Olympic Games from the Qualifying Tournament will join continental champions Argentina (Pan America), Australia (Oceania), China (Asia), the Netherlands (Europe) and South Africa (Africa) in the Olympic tournament, Aug. 14-27 in Athens.

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USA 2004 Olympic Qualifier Team