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Field Hockey Camp
The campers are joined by Katie O’Donnell Bam (second row, fifth from left) and Marvin Bam (second row, far right) for a group picture. Photos courtesy of Lauren Gagnon.


Trying to make the sport of field hockey just a little more fun.
That’s what Katie O’Donnell Bam, a two-time U.S. Olympian and her husband, Marvin, a South African male Olympic field hockey player, try to do out on the road during the summer when they host their field hockey clinics.
“We try to make the small, basic skills as fun as possible by relating them to silly things. The kids are laughing, having a good time, and not realizing they are doing the simple things, but they are all improving drastically. It’s really fun to see them grow doing what we consider to be easy things but they aren’t easy for everyone,” O’Donnell Bam said.
The Katie O’Donnell Bam field hockey camp and clinic made a stop at The Woodstock Academy on recently.
“The camp was tremendous,” Woodstock Academy field hockey coach Lauren Gagnon said. “I had a chance to talk to Katie and the whole K16 crew and told them what I was hoping to get out of the camp and areas where our kids are lacking or struggling and they really tailored it to our needs.”
Gagnon said that included confidence issues.
O’Donnell Bam had a remedy for that.
She shared with the campers a story of one of her Olympic experiences when she whiffed on a shot at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
“That really put our athletes at ease and really put it in perspective, that it’s fine to mess up, it’s the next move that matters,” Gagnon said.
Fourteen athletes took part in the six-hours of instruction on each of the two days, 13 of those are on the Centaurs field hockey team.
“It was a lot of fun,” said junior Emma Strandson. “We learned a lot, worked really hard and picked up a lot of skills. They taught us how to use different speeds and different levels of energy to get away from defenders and manipulate our game.”
O’Donnell Bam said she and her husband, both of whom are now assistant coaches at the University of Maryland, host about six clinics a summer with 20 or less at each camp.
The smaller numbers are important, according to O’Donnell Bam, because it allows the camp counselors — which also included at Woodstock Jason Muldur, a field hockey pro in South Africa, and Kati Nearhouse, a friend of O’Donnell Bam — to establish personal rapport with the young players.
“You do that and they listen to every little thing coming out of your mouth,” O’Donnell Bam said. “You crack jokes with them, nudge them on the field, and you’re playing with them on the field. It’s really nice to have that relationship. There are not many idols in the (field) hockey world. To be able to be able to say they know Katie Bam, that she high-fived me, that I beat her, is important.”
O’Donnell Bam played for Maryland from 2007-10 and holds career records for goals (99), points (306) and assists (108).
O’Donnell Bam competed in two Olympics, London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro where the U.S. team finished just out of the medal hunt in fifth place.
The two were completely different.
In London, O’Donnell Bam took part in everything, including the opening and closing ceremonies.
“The experience of going to the Olympics was phenomenal, London did a great job as a host city,” O’Donnell Bam said. But the U.S. team finished in last place.
The U.S. changed its head coach for the 2016 Games and with that came a philosophical change. “I didn’t go to opening ceremonies because we had a game the next day. I didn’t go to any other events, didn’t take in much of the Olympic experience, but we played really well. I’m happy to be able to take that away, not the experience, but doing really well on the field.”
The Americans placed fifth in Rio.
It was to be O’Donnell Bam’s last Olympics.
She is now settling into her job as a college assistant coach and into her new life which includes her husband and a new home.
She is also trying to raise the level of recognition of the sport in the U.S., but for that to happen, success on the field is needed.
“We need more coaches to teach the basic techniques at the high school age to make them better 10 years from now. It’s a long process to make improvements, but I’m willing to do the work to improve (field) hockey in the U.S. and I know some others are,” O’Donnell Bam said.
It’s a sport where O’Donnell Bam feels there are opportunities out there “to do more things” and with the right coaching, a Division I or II offer is certainly possible.
That is, unfortunately, not true for American males as the NCAA doesn’t offer field hockey.
The only hope for advancement for a boy is to play in high school, if the state actually sponsors the sport (Connecticut does not) and then move on to the U.S. National team should a player be that gifted. The U.S. has not qualified for Olympic competition in men’s field hockey since 1996.
“I would love to see, in my lifetime, it become an NCAA sport for men because it would also help the women’s side. I don’t know if that will ever happen with Title IX and most colleges need more female, not male, sports,” O’Donnell Bam said.
Strandson said this past weekend’s camp will help the girls program at The Academy.
“We have most of our girls here and we’re getting good playing time with high-level coaches. We’re all focused, all together, there are no nerves so it’s really good,” Strandson said. “They made it fun. They’re being funny, making jokes and making it understandable for kids our age. They’re not dumbing it down, just making it more inclusive and more fun.”
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director

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