In September, a few fellow national team members and I had the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas to attend the Stansberry Conference & Alliance Meeting, the flagship annual investment conference hosted by Stansberry Research, a member of the MarketWise family of companies.
MarketWise is USA Field Hockey's newest sponsor, so this was an exciting opportunity to connect with members of their team and begin building relationships with the people who have chosen to invest in us and support our journey toward the LA 2028 Olympic Games.
As professional athletes, we don't often get opportunities to attend networking events or connect with people in the corporate world, so this was a unique experience for us. Not only did we get to have conversations with business leaders, investors, and professionals from different backgrounds, but we also had the chance to share our own stories as professional field hockey players. We talked about what our day-to-day lives look like, what it takes to compete at the international level, and what we're working toward over the next two years.
One of my favorite parts of the entire experience was seeing how genuinely curious people were about our sport. We had so many people asking questions about our training, our schedules, our experiences, and our goals. I left the conference with a pretty important realization: It's not necessarily that people don't care about field hockey or our national team program. It's that so many people simply don't know about it.
And I think it's safe to say we gained quite a few new fans and supporters along the way!
It was also cool to discover how many people had some sort of connection to field hockey. Whether they played years ago, had a child who plays, or knew someone involved in the sport, there always seemed to be a connection somewhere. It was a reminder that field hockey has a much bigger reach than we sometimes realize, and that our sport is continuing to make its mark here in the United States.
Throughout the conference, we also had a USA Field Hockey booth where attendees could stop by, learn more about our program, make donations directly to the team, and purchase memorabilia to show their support. At one point during the conference, we took the stage to share more about who we are, what we do, and our new partnership with MarketWise.
Following our presentation, we noticed a significant increase in people stopping by our booth, wanting to learn more about our journeys and how we got to where we are today. It was so exciting to see how simply sharing our stories could spark that much interest.
That experience really motivated me to continue sharing my journey and our sport through social media. I think sometimes, as athletes, we underestimate how much of an impact sharing our everyday experiences can have. The more people we can reach, the more opportunities we have to introduce them to field hockey, help them understand what we do, and hopefully inspire them to become fans and supporters themselves.
Beyond networking and representing USA Field Hockey, we also had the opportunity to sit in on several presentations and hear from some incredible speakers. While many of the topics were outside of what we typically experience as national team athletes, there were lessons and perspectives that connected to our own lives.
One event that particularly stood out to me was a women's-only speaking event called HER Perspective. During the event, several women shared their personal experiences in the world of investing and emphasized the importance of women taking control of their own financial futures rather than relying on the men in their lives to make those decisions for them.
It was such an empowering and inspiring conversation, and one that really stuck with me. As women, it's important to recognize that we are capable of making our own decisions, creating opportunities for ourselves, and investing in our futures. And while the conversation was primarily focused on financial investing, I couldn't help but think about how that same message applies to so many other areas of our lives. Whether it's investing our time, energy, or resources into something we believe in, there is so much power in choosing to invest in ourselves.
Looking back, this trip was about so much more than attending a conference in Las Vegas. It was an opportunity to step outside of our normal routines, meet people we otherwise may never have crossed paths with, learn from different perspectives, and most importantly, continue spreading awareness about a sport and program that mean so much to us.
One of my biggest takeaways from the experience was that investing isn't always just about money, companies, or products. Sometimes, it's about investing in people, their potential, and what they are working to achieve. That's exactly what partnerships like this mean to us as athletes. Having organizations and individuals who believe in our program and want to be part of our journey makes a difference, especially as we begin preparing for LA 2028.
A huge thank you to MarketWise and Stansberry Research for welcoming us and giving us the opportunity to share our stories. We're so grateful for the support and excited to see what we can accomplish together.
Here's to growing the game, creating new connections, and bringing more people along for the journey to LA 2028!
