Ally Hammel ’15 and her U.S. women’s field hockey teammates didn’t make it to the Opening Ceremonies of the Paris Olympics in July. They had some business to take care of — their first game was the next day. So the team had to sacrifice being part of that spectacle. Of course, any athlete who makes it to the Olympics is accustomed to sacrificing along the way.   

But the team did make it to the Closing Ceremonies, a memory that will fuel the players for some time. 

“Closing Ceremonies were amazing,” Ally said in an interview after she returned home from France. “To see everything the IOC [International Olympic Committee] put into the Games and how much it meant to Paris to host the Olympics, and to see the transfer from Paris to Los Angeles was pretty spectacular. To be able to stand there and sing our national anthem and know the Games are coming to the United States in ’28 was just an incredible feeling, a brings-tears-to-your-eyes moment.” 

The U.S. field hockey team was eliminated in pool play in Paris; the team finished with one win, one draw, and three losses. Ally would like to make it to LA in 2028 but knows there is a lot of time between now and then. 

“It depends on where I am mentally and physically, and we always talk about international careers [being] fleeting and you have to take advantage of it when you have the opportunity,” Ally said. “I am very grateful to have had the opportunity and experience at the Paris Games and of course would love to make ’28, but it is four years away and I understand things change. Right now, we’re looking forward to the World Cup in ’26 and making an impact.” 

The World Cup will be held in August 2026 in Wavre, Belgium, and Amstelveen, Netherlands. The team will begin training this fall for the World Cup qualifying tournament, the Pan Am Cup, to be held in March 2025. For now, Ally has some much-needed down time. 

“Something we talk about and is a huge value for us is joy,” Ally said. “We understand that to contribute to the team and program, your own cup has to be full. I can’t be my best self if I am not taking care of myself. So, we’re taking the time we need.” 

Ally is refilling that cup because her life has been busy, and not just on the field. Not that she’d trade it for anything else. She became engaged to Travis Kauffman in June, right around the time that the United States named its field hockey team for the Olympics. “It was a pretty crazy June,” she said. 

And a pretty crazy July in Paris. Travis and her parents were there to see her compete in the Olympics. 

“Family means everything to me, so to have them there and for them see me compete was a priceless moment,” Ally said. 

She didn’t start playing field hockey until she was in the seventh grade — on a club team started by her mother on the South Shore of Boston — and became a three-time league champion at Duxbury (Mass.) High School, an All-American in her post-graduate year at Loomis Chaffee, and a two-time All-American at Boston University.  

“She introduced me to field hockey,” Ally said of her mom, Jennifer. “She had played at the University of Connecticut under Nancy Stevens, such a legend in field hockey in the U.S. I definitely owe my mother a big thank you. She is the one who encouraged me to dream, to work hard. My parents, both of them, were so encouraging [her father Bill was a swimmer at UConn]. They never said I couldn’t. And they were always realistic with me and where I stood, which was very helpful because I think I have a realistic view of where I am day to day, ... so I am very grateful and appreciative of them for pushing me, always believing in me, and loving me no matter what happens.”  

Her mother was an NCAA first-team regional All-American for Coach Stevens, who led UConn to 520 wins and three national titles in 30 seasons.  

Ally said she also owes a big thank you to Loomis Chaffee. 

“Loomis Chaffee helped me grow as an individual and an athlete,” Ally said. “I played for Bobbi Moran, who is an absolutely incredible woman.  She really pushed me to work hard for what I have. I was pretty skilled going into Loomis, but she showed me I needed to work my butt off for what I wanted. She’s involved in the U.S. program, so I was able to pull that experience from her and understand what I needed to do to achieve my goals. I knew I wanted to play field hockey in college, and I knew I aspired to play on the U.S. team. She taught me how to set goals and, again, work for what I wanted rather than just relying on my skills.” 

Ally said the classroom at Loomis “is very much like a college or university. ... It is your responsibility to take care of everything that you need to take care of. To have that experience and learn how to manage my time on and off the field was important to me going into BU, which was a challenging school academically and, on the field, so having that experience at Loomis was everything I needed to have success later on in my career.” 

A career that now includes the Olympics. 

She said she’ll never forget the feeling of stepping onto the field and sharing that moment with her teammates, calling it “something I will remember for rest of my life.” 

That and all the other experiences — meeting Olympians in other sports, living in the Olympic village, going to events after the field hockey team was eliminated, including seeing the U.S. women’s soccer team win gold, and feeling the Olympic spirit up close and personal, when most us can just get a glimpse on TV — are memories for a lifetime. 

“So many countries, so many different people able to come together on such a huge international stage. ... You see special moments happening,” Ally said. “Athletes and spectators supporting one another. It’s like the world coming together a little bit, and that is special and what the Olympics are built upon.”