Blue Bell native Katie O’Donnell Bam, widely considered the best female field hockey player in the country, will soon make her second trip to the Olympics as a key cog for Team USA.
Team USA finished a disappointing 12th out of 12 in the 2012 Olympics in London.
However, the fast-rising Americans, who train at Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster, are currently ranked fifth in the world by the International Hockey Federation, the sport’s world governing body.
The 27-year-old O’Donnell Bam has been a superstar in field hockey since her days at Wissahickon High School, from which she graduated in 2007.
In college, she led the University of Maryland to a pair of national championships, one in 2008, the other in 2010. The four-time Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year is the Terrapins’ all-time leader in points, goals, and assists. She twice won the Honda Sports Award as the nation’s top player.
O’Donnell Bam, nicknamed Odie, and her husband Marvin Bam – a former Olympian from Cape Town, South Africa – are assistant coaches at Harvard. When not training or coaching, the couple are professional photographers.
Team USA opens pool play at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro with a face-off against Argentina, ranked second in the world, on Sunday, August 6.
