Abby Tamer Takes on the Olympics
How she hopes to make her sport – and Michigan – proud
Abby Tamer has been an athlete for as long as she can remember. With a dad who played in the NHL and a mom determined to popularize field hockey in Michigan, athleticism comes with the family name.
This month, Tamer, 21, will have the opportunity to compete at a level most athletes only dream of: the Olympics.
Tamer learned in June that she had been selected to compete on the USA women’s field hockey team at the Paris Olympics alongside 15 other field hockey players, confirmation that the hard work Tamer has poured into her sport had paid off.
Last year, for example, she opted to sit out of the University of Michigan’s women’s field hockey team season to train with Team USA instead, only to almost lose with Team USA during the Olympic trials in January. Tamer’s skill is a big part of the reason Team USA’s field hockey team qualified.
The U.S. women’s field hockey team has only medaled once in the sport, winning bronze in 1984. The Netherlands tends to dominate. Now Tamer has her sights set on the very top of that Olympic podium. She wants gold—for her teammates, her family, and for Michigan.
Born and raised in Dexter, Tamer’s friends and neighbors have watched her play one sport or another since she was old enough to dribble a soccer ball. She played soccer and ice hockey through middle school, but dropped ice hockey in seventh grade to learn field hockey.
If it had been up to Tamer, she might have quit as soon as she started.
She joined the community field hockey program that her mom, Keely Tamer, began but only stuck with it because Keely and her husband, like all good parents, urged Abby to follow through on her commitment.
