We want to celebrate our Ambush athletes and say thank you to our wonderful community for an amazing 2018.  

Check out everything you've done this year!

But first - a quick thank you to our amazing volunteers, parents and staff:

  • Coaches, Refs, Game Day Managers, Admin Staff - thank you for the dedication day in and day out! 
  • All of our team parents for your coordination, meals and extra touches.
  • Our First Annual Golf Tournament Committee - thank you for making it such a success. 
  • And Finally, all parents and players for your hardwork, travel and dedication.  
Select Team Updates


Most recently our U19's won their pool at Festival. They tied and won the pool in goal differential over #5 ranked club X-Caliber. 

 

At the same tournament, our U16s went 1-1-4 against extremely tough competition with their only loss coming to a top 5 ranked team. Our U14s defeated 2 top ten ranked teams and tied the 5th ranked team in the country to take second place.  

 

At Shooting Star we sent young U19 and U14 teams who all competed very well in their pools showcasing their turf knowledge and experience.

 

And thank you to the hard work of all our athletes and coaches -- look what we have done!  Everyone of our age groups went up this year in the USFHA National Rankings:
  • U14s became our first age group to hit the TOP 10!
  • U16s moved up to 14th place.
  • and U19s are now 27th!
Way to go everyone.   This is an amazing accomplish especially given the distances you travel to compete every month and sometimes every week.  Our select athletes are some of the most dedicated, hard working, SMART athletes I've ever seen.  Thank you for always giving your best.

  • 37 Ambush athletes made All-Conference
  • 16 Ambush athletes made All-State
  • 8 Ambush athletes were selected to USA Field Hockey's National Futures Tournament.
  • 1 athlete participated on the U17 National Team

Grow the Game


SCHOOL PROGRAMS
As most of you know - one of our missions is to introduce the sport of field hockey to athletes in the greater Charlotte area.  The driving force behind accomplishing this mission is the partnerships we develop with schools to create club school teams.  In 2018 we managed 18 school teams and plan to add 2-3 more in 2019.

AMBUSH NORTH CLINICS kicked off again this fall with new leadership and focus on the development of youth programs and an introductory travel program.

Taking Ambush to the Next Level
  • NEW Competitive Academy training with Ambush's most experienced coaches
  • NEW Select Coaches and Program Heads will Collegiate and International Coaching Experience
  • NEW Strength and Agility Boot Camps with our very own certified athletic trainer
  • NEW TAP Program for developing the mental game
Alumni Action

Check out all our current Ambush College athletes.  And how cool is it that two Ambush Alumni are now on our administrative staff - Sarah Heacock and Meredith Clay.  And several have joined us to coach!
 

Kennedy Fertitta and Emma Goldean at Ohio State University -- Emma received OSU Rookie of the Year.

Brooke Whipkey  scored her first collegiate goal and ended the season with 6 goals at Quinnipiac.

Avery Seward and Tina Glaser: Helped John's Hopkins win their conference championship and played in the Division III National Championship.

Cece Monnin and Lily Whitman: Both had great Freshmen seasons playing at Dartmouth & Harvard.  
Abby Scully and
Ali Gakenheimer win their conference championship at Denison. Abby received All Region honors.
Caroline Balough
and her teammates make it to the NCAA Championship game. 
Meredith Clay & Hayden Clay
Hayden finishes his first season as the Manager at Univ. of Michigan while Meredith's William & Mary Tribe made it to the NCAA dance!

Carolyn Blackman and Annabelle Oates have a great freshman season at Skidmore College.

Leila Evans
and her UNC teammates won the NCAA National Championship.

Chloe Appleby and Grayson Buben kick off their college careers at Davidson.

Club National Champs
3 Alumnae win the College Club National Championship.

Maria Varat
and Lanie Walsh
are rocking it at Rhodes & Queens respectively.

Ashton Coley finishes her Senior year at App State.

Georgia Fadel
finished her second season at Gettysburg University. 

Coaches Updates
  • This year Ambush introduced a New structure to our Select and Competitive Academy programs.  Our staff is led by some of the most experienced coaches in the state: 
    • U19 Program Heads: Sarah Krombolz and Joey Prestidge 
    • U16 Program Head: Michelle Garrity 
    • U14 Program Head: Rachael Snelgrove
    • Select Development and Competitive Academy Program Head: Jenell Davis 
       
  • In 2019 we will add a NEW U12 Program Head who will lead our newly structured U12 Select Program.
     
  • Coach O was invited to attend the US Olympic Committees first ever club management symposium where she partnered with clubs from around the country to discuss best practices and future development.
     
  • 10 Coaches received Level 2 USFHA certification and 3 received Level 1
First Annual Clubs for Sticks was a Success
  Thank you to everyone who participated in or contributed to our First Annual Clubs for Sticks Golf Tournament. 

 We raised $13,000 that will all go to the development of school programs!

Spring and Summer 2019
  • U16 and U14 Spring Outdoor Select tryouts in Janaury - registration open now. 
  • Spring Outdoor - U12 Select Academy, Competitive Academy, and Clinic details will be posted in late January.
  • Summer Camp dates are coming out!  Save the date.  Registration will open in Janaury.
    • In The Zone - July 24, 25, 26
    • South Camp - June 10-13
    • Pre-Season Middle School Camp - July 29-Aug 1
    • Youth Beginner Camp - July 14-19
    • Keep an eye out for our NEW Summer Boot Camp to prepare for your high school season.
See the best in the world play...right here in NC!
 
  • The Women's USA National Team will play at Wake Forest on February 16th vs The Netherlands.  This is an amazing opportunity to have this caliber of play coming to OUR STATE.  Get your tickets today!
  • And stay for a clinic.  The Wake Forest coaching staff is hosting a clinic the next day!  Visit their website for more details.
And can you believe it... we are nominated again for 
USFHA Club of the YEAR! Vote Today!
 

Each fan can vote once per award during the voting window. USA Field Hockey will accept votes until Sunday, February 3, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Winners will be honored on Saturday, March 16, 2019 at 2019 USA Field Hockey Summit in Baltimore, presented by AstroTurf.

Link to vote