Jan. 16, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State field hockey assistant coach Stuart Smith has been selected to assist in the training of the U.S. National team in Chula Vista, Calif., as the squad prepares for the World Cup later this summer. Smith worked with the team when it held its summer training camp at Penn State in August of 2013.
"I'm excited for the experience," said Smith. "It was an amazing experience to be able to work with the team during the summer and to be asked to make the trip with the team to California is an honor, a dream come true. Coach Craig Parnham is a great coach and he has a great view of how the game is played at the top level.
Smith and the rest of the U.S. National Team arrived in California over the weekend and the camp started on Monday. The team and staff are training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center through February 17.
"To be training daily at the Olympic training facility in Chula Vista is awesome to be able to rub shoulders with Olympians and Paralympians is truly an honor," said Smith.
The U.S. will be joined in California at the beginning of February by the international squads of Great Britain and New Zealand. The six week training block for Team USA will be capped with a series of matches against both teams, with each of the three nations intending to play seven test matches.
After training the squad will compete in the Champions Challenge in Glasgow, Scotland from April 27 through May 4. Later the same month Team USA will compete in the 13th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup in The Hague, Netherlands from May 31 through June 14th. The U.S. has been placed in World Cup Pool B with Argentina, England, Germany, China and South Africa.