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Sem Grad Lauren Powley headed to Beijing Games
Originally appeared in Wilkes Barre Times Leader on June 24, 2008 - written by Tom Robinson
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Lee Bodimeade expects his United States women’s field hockey team to display one of the world’s strongest midfields when it gets to Beijing in August.
 Wyoming Seminary graduate Lauren Powley, from Mountain Top, will be part of that potent midfield.
Powley was on the 16-player U.S. Olympic team roster that was revealed to a crowd of more than 2,000 Monday night at the Virginia Beach Convention Center.
The team was announced during a United States Field Hockey Olympic Celebration banquet, in conjunction with the Futures National Championship and Regional Rumble.
Powley learned of her selection Saturday night when U.S. national team members met individually with Bodimeade. Monday’s banquet represented the first public announcement.
“There’s always a certain degree of suspense,” Powley said. “You have a little idea what the coach is thinking, but you never know for sure. It was a relief Saturday night.”
For others, Saturday night meant disappointment.
The 24-member national team features three Wyoming Valley Conference graduates, but only Powley is assured of playing in Beijing.
Crestwood graduate Sara Silvetti is one of two alternates that will travel to China to be ready in case she is needed in an emergency situation.
Wyoming Valley West graduate and national team veteran April Fronzoni will continue working with the team in training next month, but only extreme developments would put her on the Olympic roster.
“The two alternates are not guaranteed a spot if we have an injury,” Bodimeade said. “It could depend on what position we need.
“Prior to the Olympics, anyone on the squad of 24 could be a replacement. Once the Games start, a replacement would come from our 17th and 18th players.”
Powley was a three-time All-American at the University of Maryland where she led the team to a national title as a senior in 2005.
“She was first on our team in 2005 and she has progressed well,” said Bodimeade, who became the team’s coach the same year. “She did very well at the University of Maryland. “Now, she really understands what it takes to be successful in the international game.”
U.S. success at the Olympics could depend on the play of the midfield.
“We have one of the better midfields in world hockey,” Bodimeade said. “That’s one of our strengths. Any player selected for it, you know is doing pretty well.”
Powley figures to be the backup at center midfield behind Kayla Bashore, another of the 10 Pennsylvania players on the roster.
“Lauren’s a very strong, powerful player,” Bodimeade said. “Kayla’s a skillful, finesse player. We manufacture our midfield according to what we need against a certain opponent.”
Powley is part of the first U.S. team to qualify for the Olympics since 1988. The 1996 team was automatically in the field as the host of the Atlanta Games. She celebrated the selection Saturday with Wyoming Seminary coach Karen Klassner and assistant Kim Barbacci.
“It was awesome to see them,” said Powley, who began playing field hockey as a seventh-grader at Wyoming Seminary.
Powley earned two All-America honors while playing for Klassner and progressed from the Futures program to the U.S. Under-18 team.
“Probably after making the junior national team, this became a more realistic goal,” Powley said.
To make it happen, Team USA needed to win the Kazan Qualifier.
“We didn’t expect to be playing Belgium (in the final),” Powley said. “We scouted them, stayed focused and executed our game plan. It was great to be the first team that qualified on our own in a long time.”
Monday night, that win was cause for a belated celebration.
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