Today, the U.S. women’s U-21 field hockey team competes in the semifinal round of the Junior Pan American Championship against Chile for a chance at the gold-medal match.
But there’s something already to celebrate for this group of young women — the fact that they, through making the last four, have already qualified for the 2025 Junior World Cup. Four Pan American zone teams qualify through the JPACs, taking place currently in Surrey, B.C.
As the American field hockey apparatus gets closer and closer to hosting the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, there are some interesting figures on this team to keep an eye on. They are what is suddenly a growing player pool for national-team duty.
There are a lot of proven high-scoring figures on this junior national team, such as Ryleigh Heck, Maci Bradford, Olivia Bent-Cole, Hope Rose, Daniela Mendez-Trendler, and Abby Burnett. Too, you have some great providers like Josie Hollamon and Isabella Bianco. And the goalkeeping ain’t bad, either, with the University of Maryland’s Alyssa Klebasko and UConn’s Natalie McKenna.
It will be interesting to see which of these players are in the shop window for senior women’s national team duty in 2025 and beyond.
