For the first time, international hockey players from across the Pan American Hockey Federation (PAHF) will have their say in the way their Federation is run after they elected an Athletes Commission at the recent Pan Am Games in Toronto, Canada.
More than 200 internationals from the 27 countries that make up PAHF were asked to cast their votes for athletes who will sit on the Federation’s Athletes Committee.
These athletes will represent the views of current hockey players and ensure that decisions made at the top level are in the best interests of the athletes as well as the sport.
In the first election of its kind, athletes from the PAHF selected four candidates to the Athletes Committee. The newly-elected players will join former Canadian midfielder Scott Sandison (Chair), Julio F Neves (Secretary) and appointed members Tricia Fiedtkou, Guyana and Pablo Kuhlenthal, Chile. Each athlete serves a four-year term on the committee.
The four hockey players elected by their hockey-playing peers are:
Keli Smith-Puzo (USA) - retired from international hockey two years ago, following a successful career with Team USA that included two World Cups, two Olympic Games and two Pan-American Games. She was capped 179 times for her country and also brought up two children during her playing career.
Macarena Rodriguez (Argentina) - With more than 180 caps to her name, Rodriguez has been a stalwart of Argentina’s Las Leonas for the past 14 years. During that time, she has collected four Champions Trophy gold medals, a World Cup gold and bronze (2010 and 2014 respectively) and a silver Olympic medal. Since Luciana Aymar’s retirement from the sport, Rodriguez has been captain of Las Leonas.
Kwandwane Browne (Trinidad and Tobago) – A key player for his country and its hockey ambitions, Browne plays club hockey in England, and is also part of the national elite coaching team for England and Great Britain. However, with more than 300 caps for Trinidad and Tobago, the popular midfielder is a familiar face among the PAHF nations. Were it not for a ruptured achilles sustained just five weeks before the start of the Pan Am Games, Browne would have played in his sixth Games this year. He has not yet ruled out playing in the next edition in 2019.
Yoandy Blanco (Cuba) – Having represented Cuba for more than 15 years, the 36-year-old striker first played for his country at the 2003 Pan Am Games, where Cuba won a bronze medal. He competed in the next three Pan Am Games, including this year’s event where Cuba finished eighth. He was also an integral part of the team that won gold at the 2006 and 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games.
Speaking after the election, Macarena Rodriguez said: “I'm very happy being able to be part of this PAHF committee. I hope we can convey all the concerns of the players and work together to continue to improve our sport.”
Besides being top players with long, successful careers, the thing all these athletes have in common is the respect and admiration of their peers – as demonstrated by the recent PAHF elections.
