BRIGHTON, Mich. (WLNS) – When the Olympic Games begin in Paris next month, University of Michigan field hockey player Abby Tamer will be the first athlete in the program’s history to represent Team USA.
Tamar took an Olympic redshirt last season to join the national team and helped lead the United States to the Paris Games.
She played a pivotal role on the national team, scoring the winning goals in both Olympia qualifying matches, including the goal against Japan that officially qualified the United States for the Olympics.
In the United States, field hockey has long been a sport dominated by the East Coast. In fact, nine of the 16 players on Team USA are from Pennsylvania.
Tamar is proud to represent Michigan on the world stage, but she and her family also hope to grow the sport in the state for future generations.
“I want to see the sport grow as much as possible, and my mom is really committed to that,” she said. “I think that's really important because it's an amazing sport and it offers so many opportunities, especially for young women like me, so it would be great to see it grow and hopefully be a part of it.”
“This is definitely a passion we share and this is the first [Olympic] “She's not the only player from Michigan,” Abby's mother, Keely Tamar, added.
Keely herself was a standout field hockey player at the University of Michigan, where she was two-time team captain, and she has coached Abby at various times throughout her life, currently serving as the Executive Director of Great Lakes Regional Field Hockey.
Abby's athletic genes run deep; her father, Chris Tamar, played 11 years in the NHL after a career at the University of Michigan, and her sister, Emma Tamar, also played field hockey for the Wolverines.
Abby's Olympic journey proves the value of seeing it through to the end, because her field hockey career was almost over before it even began.
The Tamar family rule is that every child must participate in at least two activities. Abby primarily played soccer as a child, but in seventh grade she needed a second activity and decided to try field hockey.
“I actually hated it at first and wanted to quit,” she said, “but my parents always say that once you make a decision, you have to see it through. So I had no choice but to see it through, and maybe two weeks later I was like, 'OK, I want to play in college!' So I'm glad my parents let me see it through.”
“She was like, 'I don't want to do it,' and we said, 'Well, you chose field hockey and the season is 10 weeks, so if you do it for 10 weeks and that's it, that's fine.' And immediately, she wanted a new stick,” Keeley Tamar added.
By doing just that, Abby discovered her love for the sport and has worked tirelessly ever since to become one of the most decorated field hockey players in state history.
During her playing career at Dexter High School, she was a two-time MHSFHA Player of the Year and was named a First Team All-American by the NFHCA in 2019. She played in nine games as a freshman and 19 games as a sophomore at Michigan, finishing second on the team in scoring.
Of course, she also earned the title “Olympic Athlete” on top of all her other accolades.
“When it was actually announced in writing and I saw my name on the list, it was a huge relief,” Tamar said of making the Olympic team. [it was] It's just a feeling of satisfaction and a reflection of all the effort I've put in, the people who have been a part of my journey and all the hard work our team has put in together.”
So, the girl who started a sport and wanted to quit soon after grew into an Olympian with dreams of spreading the sport in her hometown and inspiring the next generation. For Abby, finishing that season in seventh grade was definitely the right choice.
“You have to see things through to the end,” Keely said, “and we think that's really worth it, because it's like if you've never tried it, you don't know if you'll like it or not, and when things are hard, you have to go for it.”
“This really isn't just my journey,” Abby said, “it's all the people around me that have supported me, not just these last eight years that I've been playing field hockey, but my whole life. So I'm really grateful to have the opportunity to show my hard work and that it's starting to pay off. It's not just about me.”
