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United States Field Hockey Association
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Team
Behind the Team: Field Hockey’s Katie Kauffman & Jill Reeve Among Olympic
Hopefuls To Receive New GM Vehicles
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – U.S.
Field Hockey players Katie Kauffman and Jill Reeve are among the 100 Olympic hopefuls to
receive new General Motors vehicles as part of The Team Behind the Team program sponsored
by GM and the International Union, UAW.
Developed to address the challenges that face U.S. Olympic Team hopefuls as they travel to training and competitions, the Team Behind the Team program featured a $3.5 million vehicle donation to support U.S. athletes. As program beneficiaries, Kauffman and Reeve will receive new Saturn vehicles detailed by famed fashion designer Joseph Abboud with a commemorative Olympic Edition package, available only to hopeful families participating in the program.
Selected
by an Athlete Advisory Panel assembled by the UAW and GM, Kauffman and Reeve were among
the 100 selected hopefuls from a pool of 1,800 applicants. Selection was based on
financial need, training and competition requirements, and qualification of “hopeful”
status. The two field hockey standouts will look to take the next step in improving their
“hopeful” status when U.S. Field Hockey holds its 2000 selection camp at the
Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. during the second week in January. Head coach Tracey Belbin and the team will then
seek to qualify for the Olympic Games at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Milton
Keynes, England in late March. The top five teams from the 10-team qualifier will earn a
spot to Sydney for the 2000 Olympic Games.
Co-chaired by Olympic Gold Medalists Grant Hill and Dorothy Hamill, and consisting of track and field stars Evelyn Ashford, Carl Lewis, and Bob Mathias, swimmer Pablo Morales, and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, the Athlete Advisory Panel reviewed the applications and selected the 100 vehicle recipients. The Panel was also provided insight into the needs and challenges faced by U.S. Olympic Team hopefuls.
A member of the U.S. team since 1994, Kauffman played on the 1996 Olympic Team that placed fifth in Atlanta. The U.S. midfielder earned a silver medal with the U.S. Team last summer at the 1999 Pan American Games, and helped the team to another silver medal performance at the 1999 Sydney International Hockey Challenge. She has appeared in 72 international matches as a member of the national team including games at the 1998 World Cup and 1995 and 1997 Champions Trophy competitions.
A native of West Lawn, Pa., Kauffman was a two-time All-America selection at the University of Maryland. She is employed as a sales associate at Home Depot in West Lawn as part of the Olympic Job Opportunity Program (OJOP), and served as a volunteer coach for the 1999 NCAA Champion University of Maryland Terrapins.
The 1999 U.S. Field Hockey Female Athlete of the Year, Reeve was a member of the 1996 Olympic Team and has appeared in 82 international games with the U.S. From her defender position on the U.S. team, she helped secure five shutout victories at the 1999 Pan American Games. Offensively, Reeve took many of the team’s corner shots in 1999, and scored both U.S. goals in a 2-1 win over 1996 Olympic silver medalist Korea in a May tour and scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over 1992 Olympic gold medalist Spain in an April tour to Barcelona.
A two-time All-America selection at Old Dominion University, the Hoosick Falls, N.Y. native helped lead the Lady Monarchs to three NCAA Championships from 1990-92. In 1999, she served as an assistant coach at Penn State University
The UAW and GM have made a significant commitment to the Olympic Movement through its support of U.S. Olympic Teams, 37 National Governing Bodies, the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games, and NBC Olympic broadcasts through 2008. The Team Behind the Team program is part of GM's 10-year official sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Team.
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