2026 Hall of Fame Inductee: Jaclyn Kintzer Briggs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Over the next few weeks, USA Field Hockey will be celebrating and honoring the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees prior to the Gala, hosted by the USA Field Hockey Foundation.

Rio 2016 Olympian and London 2012 reserve Jaclyn Kintzer Briggs was an outstanding goalkeeper for the U.S. Women’s National Team. She joined the USWNT in 2010 and competed in 184 international matches before retiring in 2017.

Born in Reading, Pa., Briggs’ field hockey journey started in high school, playing as a member of the High Styx field hockey club while attending Conrad Weiser High School. As a Scout she was All-Berks County, All-State her junior and senior years, and Berks County Player of the Year her senior season.

Briggs played at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill (2006-2010) and helped the Tar Heels to two NCAA Division I National Championships (2007, 2009), an NCAA Runner-Up appearance (2010), and an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) title (2007). In her junior and senior years she had stand-out performances to earn her personal accolades of NFHCA Division I First Team All-America, NFHCA Division I All-South Region First Team, All-NCAA Tournament Team, All-ACC Tournament Team, and All-ACC Academic Team. At UNC, she was twice named the Laree Beans Practice Player of the Year Award winner, and her senior year collected the Carmen and Michael Hooker Leadership Award.

In 2008, while still at UNC, Briggs helped USA claim gold at the Junior Pan American Championship in Mexico City, Mexico, and was a member of the squad that played in the 2009 Junior World Cup in Boston, Mass., where the team finished eighth.

After joining the senior squad in 2010, one of Briggs’ defining moments came just before the 2011 Pan American Games. Originally not on the roster, she got a phone call two days before the tournament started to make a last-minute flight to join the team in Guadalajara, Mexico. From there, she helped USA upset Argentina in the final, earning the program’s first ever Pan American gold medal, and punching the team’s ticket to the London 2012 Olympic Games. That same year, she helped USA to a silver medal finish at the Champions Challenge I in Dublin, Ireland before earning gold in the 2013 FIH Hockey World League Round 2 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She returned to Brazil three years later as the starting goalkeeper for Team USA at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where they finished fifth.

Briggs was also a member of the 2014 squad that shocked the world with a fourth place finish at the 2014 Rabobank Hockey World Cup and a gold medal at the 2014 Champions Challenge. She was pivotal in USA’s gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games and bronze medals in the 2016 Champions Trophy and 2017 women’s Pan American Cup. Her goalkeeping highlighted the USWNT’s gold medal performance at the 2017 FIH Hockey World League Semifinals in South Africa, where she was named Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament following two critical shootout victories. This aided her being nominated for the 2017 FIH Hockey Stars Awards Female Goalkeeper of the Year. When she retired in August 2018, she finished her career with 184 international caps.

In the fall 2012, Briggs returned to her alma mater, UNC, as the volunteer assistant coach for a season. Upon retiring from playing, she went back to UNC as the volunteer assistant in 2018 and 2019, before joining the coaching staff at Wake Forest University in 2020. She remains on the Demon Deacons staff as the associate head coach and was and is actively involved with the Junior and Senior U.S. Women's National Teams. From 2020 to 2024 she helped the goalkeepers on the USWNT, from 2021 to 2023 she was the assistant coach for the U-18 USWNT, and since 2024 she has been an assistant and goalkeeper coach for the U-16 USWNT.

An Olympic goalkeeper who competed at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Briggs is truly worthy of induction into the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame.

Join us as we celebrate and honor the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at the 2026 Hall of Fame Gala. Tickets can be purchased by clicking here.