Eight men’s teams and eight women’s teams qualified for the marquis continental competitions through the 2013 Pan American Cups, 2014 South American Championships and 2014 Central American & Caribbean Games. In both Pan Am competitions, the teams are split into two pools of four and play a round-robin that will decide the quarter-final panel. Following quarter-finals, all teams play cross-overs followed by classifications matches, for a total of 48 high-level matches for the hockey fans in a 12-day period.
Hockey matches will be played on a brand new facility, built for the occasion, in the historic heart of the University of Toronto back campus, right downtown, probably the most easily accessible Pan Am Games venue for spectators.
MEN
Field hockey was admitted in the Pan Am Games in 1967 in Winnipeg, Canada. Argentina won the first gold medal and were joined on the podium that year by Trinidad & Tobago and the USA. The Argentinians have never finished lower than second in the Pan American Games since that first podium experience.
Canada appeared on the lower step of the podium, finishing third, in 1971 when the games were hosted in Cali, Columbia. From the 1975 games in Mexico onward, all the men’s finals involved Argentina and Canada, with the South Americans winning six times and the North Americans topping the podium four times. The rivalry between the two continental powerhouses has been intense and often decided by a single goal (1-0 in 1975, 1995, 1999 and 2003) or even in a dramatic penalty competition as in 2007 in Rio de Janeiro.
Argentina enters the 2015 competition as the reigning Champions and the top-ranked team (6th in the FIH World Rankings). Argentina has already qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio after their second-place finish in World League Round 3 in Buenos Aires. They have a mature and experienced roster (average of 28 years old and 130 international caps) and are on a roll after a superb bronze medal at the 2014 World Cup in the Netherlands.
Canada will probably improve their current ranking of 15th, thanks to their recent fourth-place finish in World League Round 3 which included winning a spectacular and lengthy shoot-out duel with New Zealand in quarter-finals. The Canadian roster is younger (average age 25) than the Argentinian, but they boast a lot of experience with an average of nearly 100 caps per player.
Chile (ranked 25th), USA (26th) and Trinidad & Tobago (29th) will try and challenge the two top guns but will more likely fight for the third step of the podium. Chile has the upper hand on experience but USA is fielding talented young players who are progressing quickly. The USA lost to Chile in World League Round 2 in San Diego but handsomely beat Trinidad & Tobago twice.
The Caribbean team will unfortunately be deprived of their charismatic leader Kwan Browne, who played a significant role on the pitch in the last four Pan American Games but will this time be confined to the coaching bench due to injury.
The Brazilian team will have its own personal goal of finishing in the top six of the teams in Toronto in order to validate their berth as host in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Anything less and they would lose the opportunity to play at home and their reserved spot would go to another team based on World League results.
The lowest ranked team in the men’s competition in Toronto is Cuba (48th), but their surprisingly low ranking is only a reflection of their lack of participation in international competitions and certainly not of their real level. Four years ago in Guadalajara, they arrived with a similarly low ranking (45th) but beat higher ranked teams USA and Mexico before giving a hard time to Canada in the semi-final and Chile for Bronze.
WOMEN
Field hockey was introduced for women only in 1987 in Indianapolis. Argentina won the first Gold Medal over the host USA, then hogged the top step of the podium at every Pan Am Games… until 2011 in Guadalajara, when the USA caused a major upset by cleanly beating the World Champions, ranked 13 spots ahead of them!
Argentina are not as dominant since the retirement of superstar and eight time FIH Athlete of the Year, Luciana Aymar, as well as stalwart Rosario Luchetti. They lost a four-match test series against the USA in February and struggled at the World League Round 3 in Valencia, losing to Great Britain, China and Germany to finish in fourth place. To complicate matters, Las Leonas will travel to Toronto without injured Carla Rebecchi, their most experienced player (246 International Caps) and top scorer from the World League Round 3.
The USA were frustrated by their performance in the World League Round 3, dropping a crucial pool match to Ireland then losing the decisive quarter-final to Argentina. Their fifth-place finish in Valencia will probably be enough for an Olympic berth when all the continental championships are completed, but their disappointing results will possibly be an additional incentive to work harder with the aim of defending their Pan Am Games gold medal.
The gap in rankings is wide behind the two continental ogres. The closest team, Canada, is only ranked 20th. But the young Canadians (average age of 23) have accumulated experience in the past years (already more than 70 International Caps on average) and playing against top flight teams in the World League gave them the necessary momentum to aim for the bronze medal in front of their home crowd.
Chile (ranked 22nd) and Uruguay (ranked 28th) will be the likely challengers for a spot on the lower step of the podium. The Chileans have a hugely experienced team (more than 100 Caps on average) and the players will want to avenge their loss to Canada in a close shoot-out that stopped their adventure in the World League. After winning the World League Round 2 at home, Uruguay surprised many with their enthusiastic style of play and gained a lot of admirers in Valencia for their first foray in the top international flights.
Just like their men’s team, the Cuban women are always a bit of a mystery, arriving with little international exposure but excellent physical preparation and technical skills.
Action starts on Monday at the Pan Am Field downtown Toronto with four women’s pool matches: Chile vs. Cuba and USA vs. Uruguay in the morning (9:00am) then Argentina vs. Mexico and Canada Dominican Republic in the afternoon (5:00pm).
For live updates on matches follow @panamhockey and #PAGhockey15 on twitter, Instagram and facebook. Match reports, photos and more will be available online at www.panamhockey.org.
The XVIIº Pan American Games (41 countries, 36 sports, 6,500 athletes) opened on July 10 in Toronto, with the field hockey competitions starting on Monday, July 13 (women’s pool matches for the women) and closing on Saturday, July 25 (men’s Ffinal).
Eight men’s teams and eight women’s teams qualified for the marquis continental competitions through the 2013 Pan American Cups, the 2014 South American Championships and the 2014 Central American & Caribbean Games. In both Pan Am competitions, the teams are split into two pools of four and will play a round-robin that will decide the quarter-final panel. After theFollowing quarter-finals, all teams will play cross-overs then followed by classifications matches, for a total of 48 high- level matches for the hockey fans in a 12-day period.
The competition isHockey matches will be played in on a brand new facility, built for the occasion, in the historic heart of the University of Toronto back campus, right downtown, probably the most easily accessible Pan Am Games venue for spectators.
MEN
Field hockey was admitted in the Pan Am Games in 1967 in Winnipeg, Canada. Argentina won the first gGold mMedal and were joined on the podium that year by Trinidad & Tobago and by the USA. The Argentinians have never finished lower than second in the Pan American Games since this that first podium experience.
Canada appeared on the lower step of the podium, finishing third, in 1971 when the games were hosted in in Cali, Columbia. Starting inFrom the 1975 in games in Mexico onward, all the men’s finals were played byinvolved Argentina and Canada, with the South Americans winning six times and the North Americans collecting four Gold Medalstopping the podium four times. The rivalry between the two continental powerhouses has been intense and often decided by a single goal (1-0 in 1975, 1995, 1999 and 2003) or even in a dramatic penalty competition as in 2007 in Rio de Janeiro.
Argentina enters the 2015 competition as the reigning Champions and, the top- ranked team (6th in the FIH World Rankings). andArgentina has already qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games in in Rio after their 2nd second-place finish in the World League Round 3 in Buenos Aires. They have a mature and experienced roster (average of 28 years old and 130 iInternational cCaps) and are on a roll after a superb bBronze mMedal at the 2014 World Cup in the Netherlands.
Canada will probably improve their current ranking of 15th, thanks to their recent fourth-a 4th place finish in the World League Round 3R3 which included after winning a spectacular and lengthy shoot-out duel with New Zealand in quarter-finals. The Canadian roster is younger (average age 25) than the Argentinian, but they can already boast a strong lot of experience with an average of nearly 100 cCaps per player.
Chile (ranked 25th), USA (26th) and Trinidad & Tobago (29th) will try and challenge the two top p-guns , but will more likely fight for the third step of the podium. Chile has the upper -hand on experience , but Team USA is fielding talented young players who are progressing fastquickly. They The USA lost to Chile in the World League Round 2 in San Diego, but beat handsomely beat Trinidad & Tobago twice.
The Caribbean team will unfortunately be deprived of their charismatic leader Kwan Browne, who played a significant role on the pitch in the last four Pan American Games but will this time be confined to the coaching bench due to injury.
The Brazilian team will have its own personal goal of finishing in the top six of the teams in Toronto in order to validate their berth as host in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Anything less and they would lose the opportunity to play at home and their reserved spot would go to another team based on the World League results.
The lowest ranked team in the men’s competition in Toronto is Cuba (48th), but their surprisingly low ranking is only the a reflection of their lack of participation in international competitions and certainly not of their real level. Four years ago in Guadalajara, they arrived with a similarly low ranking (45th) but beat higher ranked teams USA and Mexico before giving a hard time to Canada in the semi-final and to Chile for the Bronze medal.
WOMEN
Field hockey was introduced for women only in 1987 in Indianapolis. Argentina won the first Gold Medal over the host USA, then hogged the top step of the podium at every Pan Am Games… until 2011 in Guadalajara, when the USA caused a major upset by cleanly beating the World Champions, ranked 13 spots ahead of them!
Argentina are not as dominant since the retirement of superstar and eight time FIH Athlete of the Year, Luciana Aymar, as well as and stalwart Rosario Luchetti. They lost a four4-match test series against the USA in February and struggled at the World League Round 3 in Valencia, losing to Great -Britain, China and Germany to finish in 4th fourth place. To complicate matters, Las Leonas will travel to Toronto without injured Carla Rebecchi, their most experienced player (246 International Caps) and top scorer at from the World League Round 3.
The USA were frustrated by their performance in the World League Round 3, dropping a crucial pool match to Ireland then losing the decisive quarter-final to Argentina. Their 5th fifth-place finish in Valencia will probably be enough for an Olympic berth when all the Ccontinental Cchampionships are completed, but their disappointing results will possibly be an additional incentive to work harder with the aim of defending their Pan Am Games gGold mMedal.
The gap in rankings is wide behind the two continental ogres. The closest team, Canada, is only ranked 20th. But the young Canadians (average age of 23) have accumulated experience in the past years (already more than 70 International Caps on average) and playing against top flight teams in the World League gave them the necessary momentum to aim for the Bronze bronze mMedal in front of their home crowd.
Chile (ranked 22nd) and Uruguay (ranked 28th) will be the likely challengers for a spot on the lower strep of the podium. The Chileans have a hugely experienced team (more than 100 Caps on average) and the players will want to avenge their loss to Canada in a close shoot-out that stopped their adventure in the World League. After winning the World League Round 2 at home, Uruguay surprised many with their enthusiastic style of play and gained a lot of admirers in Valencia for their first foray in the top international flights.
Just like their men’s team, the Cuban women are always a bit of a mystery, arriving with little international exposure but excellent physical preparation and technical skills.
Action starts on Monday at the Pan Am Field downtown Toronto with four women’s pool matches: Chile vs. Cuba and USA vs. Uruguay in the morning (9:00am) then Argentina vs. Mexico and Canada Dominican Republic in the afternoon (5:00pm).
For live updates on matches follow @panamhockey and #PAGhockey15 on twitter, Instagram and facebook. Match reports, photos and more will be available online at panamhockey.org.
