When the 2024 U.S. Olympic women’s field hockey roster was announced, Emma and Brooke DeBerdine made sure to check separately.
Thankfully, both sisters made the team, their names listed one above the other on the 16-player roster. It was a welcome sight for the former Maryland field hockey standouts as well as a family that has dedicated so much time to the sport.
“Once we saw both of our names on the list, we gathered the family and FaceTimed my brother,” Brooke said on Glenn Clark Radio June 20. “It was a really special moment for the whole family and just everyone who’s been involved.”
Brooke, 25, and Emma, 23, shared the field at Maryland for three seasons from 2019 to 2021. Both had highly successful careers for the Terps, combining for eight first-team All-Big Ten and NFHCA All-America selections. They both attended Penn Manor High School in Millersville, Pa., playing four years of varsity field hockey for the national powerhouse program. Brooke graduated in 2017 and Emma in 2019.
Now they’ll get to share the field again — this time in Paris — while fulfilling a lifelong dream of representing their home country on a world stage.
“I honestly don’t think it’s sunk in that we’re going to the Olympics,” Emma said. “I don’t think it will until we’re there. I honestly have no idea what to expect at this point, but the fact that we get to experience it together and with our entire family there is just so special, and it just makes me even more excited.”
The pair of sisters shared near-identical paths in their field hockey careers to this point.
Brooke was the first sister to commit to and play for Maryland. As a freshman in 2017, she started in all 23 contests while helping the Terps advance to the national championship. She was named to NCAA All-Tournament Team despite a heartbreaking loss to North Carolina.
Emma followed in her older sibling’s footsteps, joining the Terps in 2019 when she was a third team All-American as a freshman. But it wasn’t always a given the younger DeBerdine would join her sister in college. At times, she questioned if it was the right choice to attend the same school, before ultimately landing on the Terps.
“We both had our very individual hardships I would say, going through to get to this point,” Emma said. “I think definitely there were times where it was like, ‘Am I doing this? Should I be going to the same place?’ But being able to follow Brooke and have her with me through all of this has been very special and has definitely helped me get here in the long run.”
It’s been a while since the U.S. field hockey squad won a medal. Their last one of any sort was a bronze in 1984. The U.S. has lagged behind in comparison to other countries like the Netherlands, Argentina and Great Britain (nine, five and four medals, respectively).
But that hasn’t deterred the program from wanting to get back to the podium. After qualifying for its first Olympics since 2016, the team is excited for the challenge.
“Some of our veterans on our team who have stuck it out and missed out on the last Olympics, and continued to just stay on board and help build this program up … we owe a lot of credit to them and just their commitment,” Brooke said.
The siblings aren’t the only former Terps to make the U.S. women’s field hockey roster. So did Kelee Lepage and Leah Crouse, two stars in their own rights.
With four Maryland players represented on the national team, head coach Missy Meharg’s program seems to be paying dividends at the highest level of international competition. North Carolina has three alums on the roster, while no other school has more than two.
“I really think it just goes to show what kind of program Missy’s built, and how much time and effort she puts into each of her players to get them where they want to be,” Emma said. “It’s amazing getting to play still with people you played with in college.”
Eleven of Meharg’s players have gone on to make Olympic rosters in her 37-year tenure as head coach. She was an assistant with the U.S. national team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
The Deberdines credit much of their success as players to Meharg. They also recognize how lucky they are to have such an empathetic coach in their corner, not only on the field, but off of it as well.
“We have a text string where she’s constantly just checking in. ‘Hope training’s going well, thinking of you guys,'” Emma said. “She cares so much about us and getting us to where we want to be and supporting us along the way.”
For more from Emma and Brooke DeBerdine, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: USA Field Hockey