FH News Brief: Weeks of May 19 & 26

Here's what you missed in hockey!

International Hockey

Ireland Announces Senior Squad for USA Series
Ireland will be traveling to Charlotte next week for a two-match series against the United States in prepration for the EuroHockey Championships.
They have multiple players rosters who would be earning their first cap - Niamh Gowing, Kaite Larmour, Amy Handcock, and Jessica McMaster. Sarah Hawkshaw (formerly UMass) and Róisín Upton (formely UConn) will captain the squads.

Great Britain’s Ian Sloan Announces Retirement
Sloan made 19 apperanced for Ireland prior to switching to GB and England in 2025. He played in 11 Olympic matches across the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, and earned a Bronze Medal in both the Gold Coast and Birmingham Commonwealth Games. He has taken a position as a Coach Developer for England Hockey.

Pakistan Captain, Imad Shakeel Butt, Calls for Relocation of Men’s Hockey Asia Cup
With rising political tensions between India and Pakistan, the Captain of Pakistan, Imad Shakeel Butt, has called for the relocation of the Men’s Hockey Asia Cup which is set to take place in India in late August/early September. Read More

Team Osaka (W) and LA Kings (M) Wins 53rd Tom Harris California Cup
The Kings took a 4-1 win against San Jose Khalsa in the final, while L.A. United took 3rd with a 2-1 win over HFS. Team Osaka took a 2-0 win against the Mexico Women’s National Team, and Thirsty Turtles took a 3-1 win against Academy PA 15. Maddy Sposito from Osaka was named the Best Goalkeeper for the Women, with Valeria Vazquez (Mexico) winning Best Young Player and Iris Langejan (Osaka) winning Walt Robbins’ Award for Outstanding Player. On the Men’s side, Best Goalkeeper went to Tobias Reynolds-Cotterill (LA Kings), Best Young Player went to Wyatt Kats (LA Kings) and Walt Robbin’s Award for Outstanding Player went to Sebastian Dockier (LA Kings).

Hockey Ireland Appoints Susan Spence as New Chair
Susan Spence has been appointed as the new Chair after Hokey Ireland’s Annual General Meeting. Spence is a former Businesswoman fo the Year, and is a co-founder of Irish tech company, SoftCo.

Watch.Hockey Returns!
The field hockey streaming platform is back as of May 28th, just in time for the start of the June Pro League window!

USA Hockey

Big Week for Amanda Golini
Amanda Golini had two exciting announcements in the past week.First, she announced her sponsorship as a Nike Athlete. She is the first Nike Athlete from USA Field Hockey. Then on Monday, she announced her pregnancy via Instagram! Congratulations Amanda!!!

NCAA Hockey

Kevin Hertzog Named Head Coach of Lancaster Bible
Hertzog was previously the coach of Cocalico High School, where the team when 9-7-2 last season.

UAlbany’s Alison Smisdom Named AEC Woman of the Year Finalist
Smisdom is one of 3 finalist for the America East Woman of the Year Award. Smisdom acculumated 174 points in her four years and is third in conference history for goals and assists. She also holds the conference tournament record for the most goals (5) and points (10) in a single game. The winner will be announced during the America East banquet on June 3rd.

As a reminder, USA Field Hockey will be playing home matches on the 7th & 8th! You can get your FREE tickets on their website or stream the matches for free! We will have a game preview up next week!

TFHA will have a big announcement this SUNDAY on our Instagram at 8 AM! Make sure to look out for it!

Have a great weekend!