USA Field Hockey Announces New Board of Directors Members & Concluded Terms

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Following the annual USA Field Hockey Board of Directors meeting on December 7 and 8 in Colorado Springs, Colo., the organization is pleased to add five new individuals to the Board of Directors and recognize those whose terms conclude.

“I am thrilled to welcome Alison, Carla, Cheryl, Jon, and Katelyn to the Board as they take on important roles in shaping the organization,” said Cathy Bessant, USA Field Hockey’s Board of Directors Chair. “A heartfelt thank you goes to Christie, Jeanne, Lauren, Richard, and Ron for their incredible contributions to the sport and USA Field Hockey. Their wisdom, dedication, and countless hours of service have made a lasting impact on the organization.”

Serving as a new Independent Director is Jon Potter and a new At-Large Director is Alison Worthington. Potter will replace Christie Smith, while Worthington steps in for Ron Hawley, both who completed one four-year term on December 31, 2024. Katelyn Ginolfi was elected to serve as an Athlete Director, replacing Lauren Crandall; Carla Tagliente is the Coach Representative, replacing Richard Hayden; and Cheryl Bruttomesso becomes the Officials’ Representative, replacing vice-chair Jeanne O’Brien. Crandall, Hayden and O’Brien served two four-year terms.

“I am delighted for Alison, Carla, Cheryl, Jon, and Katelyn to join the Board and play a key role in guiding the organization over this next quad,” added Simon Hoskins, USA Field Hockey’s Executive Director. “Massive gratitude to the service to the sport and the organization provided by Christie, Jeanne, Lauren, Richard, and Ron over this past period, they have given so much wisdom, time and energy to USA Field Hockey.”

Alex Grassi and Karissa Niehoff have been re-elected to the Board.

Bruttomesso earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from Slippery Rock University in 1984, and her Master of Education in Sport Psychology from Temple University in 1990. She currently works as a physical education teacher and coach at Germantown Friends School, where she’s coached softball, field hockey, lacrosse, squash, and track and field.

Bruttomesso began her career as a FIH Umpire in 1995 and umpired internationally until she retired in 2004. During that time, she umpired multiple NCAA Final Four games from 1998 to 2000. After her retirement from umpiring, Bruttomesso began acting as an umpire manager and rules interpreter, acting as a rules interpreter for the NCAA from 1998 to 2004, and again from 2022 to present. She has been an umpire manager for USA Field Hockey at Regional Club Championships, National Club Championship, and National Hockey Festival since 2019.

Ginolfi has one of the most decorated playing careers for the U.S. Women’s National Team after having competed in 261 international matches for Team USA. She joined the USWNT in 2005, when she was just 15 years old, and instantly earned respectful recognition as a wise athlete beyond her years. The three-time Olympian (Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016) claimed six gold and three silver medals, including a historic and memorable performance in the 2010 Pan American Games final while playing with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

Ginolfi played collegiately at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a four-year starter and two-time captain. She helped lead the Tar Heels to two NCAA National Championships (2007, 2009), two NCAA Runner-Ups (2010, 2011) and two Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) titles (2007, 2011), along with many personal accolades.

Potter, a two-time Olympic medalist with Great Britain, brings extensive experience and record of success in delivering revenue and market share growth across multiple categories and markets. His background includes managing mature and new-to-world brands and overseeing relationships with distributors, agents, joint venture partners, and marketing agencies. With a history of beverage company management, for the past five years Potter was the managing director of the House of Suntory and Maison Courvoisier at Suntory Global Spirits. Prior to that he spent two years as the chief marketing officer at The Boston Beer Company.

Potter represented Great Britain and England on the international stage, retiring in 1995 with 234 combined international caps. He competed in three Olympic games, earning bronze at Los Angeles 1984 and gold at Seoul 1988, while also playing in Barcelona 1992.

Tagliente is the current head coach of the Princeton University field hockey team. Since joining the program in 2016, she has coached 79 All-Ivy League selections and 17 All-Americans, consistently keeping the team in the top-10 nationally. In her tenure, she has led the Princeton team to its first at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in program history and several Ivy League titles, including the 2024 season when Princeton went 7-0 in league play and won Ivy Coach of the Year.

Prior to joining Princeton, Tagliente coached at the University of Massachusetts, helping the team to 57 victories from 2012 to 2015, the sixth most in NCAA Division I field hockey during that period.  At UMass, she was awarded Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year and NFHCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year honors twice. Prior to her time at UMass, Tagliente spent eight years in the Big Ten Conference, where she was associate head coach at Northwestern University in 2009-10, an assistant coach at the University of Michigan from 2006-08 and an assistant at the University of Iowa in 2003-05. Before that, she was a volunteer at her alma mater, the University of Maryland, in 2001-02.

At Maryland, Tagliente was a three-time first-team NFHCA All-American, and represented Team USA internationally, including competing at the 1999 Pan American Games and 2002 World Cup.

Worthington brings more than 30 years of experience at Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Microsoft, Method and most recently Lyra Health. Recognized as a top marketer across consumer, tech and healthcare, Alison guides organizations through pivotal periods of their strategic evolution in the capacity of Chief Marketing Officer, Board Director, and Advisor. She also founded a consulting practice where she helps companies like GoPro, Ancestry, Bragg and multiple startups accelerate their vision and growth.  Alison earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School and an AB from Smith College. She is a mom of twin daughters and is an advocate for youth mental health and sports participation. 

USA Field Hockey would like to thank Lauren Crandall, Ron Hawley, Richard Hayden, Jeanne O’Brien and Christie Smith for their service on the Board of Directors.