Leah Close discovered the sport by chance while on her way to summer camp, and she's been hooked ever since.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — It feels like just yesterday that Leah Close was heading to Great Neck Recreation Center for summer camp. Now she's heading to Paris, France for the Summer Olympics. The two are actually quite connected.
Field hockey has allowed Leah Close to travel all over the world.
“I've been to six continents. I was in Australia, I was in India for two months,” she said. “A month ago I was in London and Belgium for a month.”
She has even mastered the art of air travel.
“I wear a mask all the time,” she says, “and I always have my headphones off. I listen to music, I read books, I watch a lot of movies, but mostly I just try to sleep.”
On June 10, Close found out she would be competing in the Paris Olympics, joining the U.S. field hockey team, and told her father, Brad, about the experience.
“He's like a big rock for me,” she said. “He's always supported me.”
In fact, their trip to Paris began with her driving by her alma mater, Cox High School, on her way to summer camp.
“I kept seeing these girls holding sticks and wondering what they were,” she says, “so I asked my dad and he was like, 'That's field hockey,' and I said I want to give it a try and be a part of it.”
Her father didn't hesitate.
“He signed me up for a little recreational league,” she said. Neither did Leah.
“And I fell in love with it.”
From cars to planes. From Virginia Beach to Paris. From recreational leagues to the Olympics.
