Hockey in United States

American hockey rests on a foundation that is unique in the hockey world: the NCAA system. USA Field Hockey coordinates the national programme, but the real talent engine consists of the universities, where hundreds of students play at high level each season on full athletic scholarships. Programmes at universities like North Carolina, Connecticut, Princeton, Northwestern and Maryland deliver a constant flow of players combining athletic capacity, tactical schooling and game experience that is unusual in other hockey countries.

What systemically sets the US apart is the residency programme in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the national squad trains and lives full-time year round. This is the American answer to the Chinese state academies and the Japanese Jitsugyōdan model: a fully professionalised environment in which players are freed from side jobs and university commitments to train at world-class level. The programme combines athletics with scientific underpinning and has worked with — among others — Navy SEAL-based mental resilience training.

Under head coach David Passmore, an ex-international and Pro League builder, and assistant coach Maddie Hinch, the British Olympic champion of Rio 2016, the Eagles aim for a podium spot at the home tournament LA 2028. The 2026 World Cup is, in that strategy, both a building moment and a test case. Tactical concepts like Remmerswaal's Overview Hockey and Tichelman's Six Accelerators are explicitly used by the staff to accelerate the team's growth into the global top five.