As part of our countdown to the Hockey World League Semi-Finals, we catch up with one of the stars of Team USA. Michelle Kasold will be competing in Valencia as part of the fifth-ranked team that has been winning plaudits and admirers over the past two years. While Kasold attributes team success to hard work, she also reveals that for her, superstition plays a tiny role as well.
Kasold herself is a key part of the team, the 28-year-old striker has 182 caps to her name but, as she says, much of the success of Team USA in recent times has been down to the extraordinary team spirit that exists within the squad: “My teammates are crucial in my preparation for competition. Field hockey is a team sport and there are so many aspects that are so important for us to be on the same page. First and foremost, we push each other in training every single day to be better. Whether that is the person who has been on the team the longest, to the newest member. In the gym and in running sessions, it is always easier to push yourself when your teammate is pushing through the same pain right next to you.
“We find it very important to be unified in all aspects. We watch videos together, discuss tactics, give feedback and criticism to each other so we can problem solve and improve. Although we each have to physically and mentally prepare ourselves in different aspects, we still know how to motivate one another and pick each other up when we fall down. That is one of our greatest strengths as a team.”
The USA coaching team, led by Craig Parnham, encourages open communications between players, but as Kasold says, this can sometimes make for uncomfortable hearing. “It is a tough environment, where every player puts so much on the line and may not get the desired return for it. Our staff reminds us that this is the reality of our sport and our team.”
A common comment from elite athletes from a range of sports is that they feel they live in a ‘bubble’, separated from everyday life. Kasold concurs: “I definitely feel like I live in a bubble that is hockey. I love the fact that I get to be active, play a sport I love, with some of my best friends, and travel the world doing it. It is hard work and there are many days where I am physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. On those days, sometimes I wonder how the rest of the world feels, or what they are doing, but I know hockey won’t last forever and I’ll have plenty of time in the rest of the world.”
The USA opens its Semi-Final account against fellow Pan-American team Uruguay. If we could be a fly on the wall in the USA changing room we would see the athletes going through their pre-match rituals. Some players will be listening to music, going through a stretching routine or going through the game plan in their heads. For Michelle Kasold it is all about routine: right sock before left sock; right shin guard before left; right shoe before left. And then it is the pumping music raising her levels of adrenalin until the team exits for the pitch.
