Hoffman Set to Continue Mission of Inspiration at Second Career World Cup

It would be a challenge to find a highly successful field hockey player in the United States who didn’t begin by playing in their youth program to get introduced to the game. But it might be even harder to find someone who can credit their own household for creating the local program.

That’s exactly the claim that Ashley Hoffman can make.

Her mom, Brenda Hoffman, was on the U.S. Women’s National Team in the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games, and started the Twin Valley Youth Field Hockey program when Ashley was young.

“I had an in with the boss and could start a year earlier than everyone else,” said Hoffman. “So that was really, really fun for me. I loved going to the practices.”

Hoffman remembers her stroller being parked behind the cage at Twin Valley High School practices when she was little so that she wouldn’t get hit. Balls would smack into the back of the cage.

“I have been hearing goals around field hockey for my entire life,” she said.

It wasn’t long until Ashley saw the value in the sport, too.

While her mom’s bronze medal was never front and center in their home, Ashley would occasionally grab it from a safe deposit box to bring into school for show-and-tell. She still remembers proudly walking through the halls with an Olympic medal around her neck.

“I would very proudly pass it around for all of my classmates to see, and my teacher to see,” said Hoffman.

While her mom was always very humble about her accomplishments, Ashley was always inspired by what she’d seen on the internet and saw how proud her dad, Scott, was.

By 2010, Hoffman was fully engulfed in the game, and attended the NCAA Championship game between North Carolina and Maryland, a double-overtime win for Maryland over the Tar Heels.

“I just remember watching it and being so amazed at how fast the game was and how good the players were,” said Hoffman. “I just really looked up to all the girls on the field, and I just remember watching that and being like, ‘This is where I want to play. Like, this is the level I want to play at. I want to be influential.’”

A few years later, she was at that level. The same two schools, Maryland and North Carolina, ended up being Hoffman’s final two schools to choose from.

“Those two teams, always in my brain, have been like the pinnacle of college hockey back then,” said Hoffman. “So it's no wonder those were the two schools that I was then deciding between. But when I was young and seeing that game, I really liked the Carolina blue uniform, so that had always been my dream school.”

Hoffman went on to become North Carolina royalty. Hoffman started all 96 games in her career, and captained the Tar Heels to an NCAA Championship in her 2018 senior season, the third undefeated season in program history.

She was the NCAA and ACC Tournament MVP, as well as the Honda Sport Award winner, honoring the nation’s best field hockey player.

A year later, in February 2019, Hoffman became the fifth player in program history to have their jersey number retired. Because of her legacy, no one will wear No. 13 in Tar Heel Blue again.

“You can't even describe the gratitude you have in those moments,” said Hoffman. “It's a bit overwhelming. In sport, there’s consistent progress, and every day you get a little bit better, every year you get a little bit better. Then, to be all of a sudden recognized with a jersey retirement or any other award … it's like, ‘Wow, this love for the game and this passion that I have is turning into something bigger.’”

As Hoffman gains more and more perspective through her field hockey journey, she sees the patterns that are aligning in her journey. ‘See something, go for it,’ is one thing she’s always been about as a person, whether it be her mom’s Olympic background or North Carolina in a National Championship game.

Hoffman became an Olympian as well, competing with Team USA at Paris 2024. Against Spain in pool play, Hoffman made a save on the goal line that is marked as one of the highlight field hockey plays of the Olympic games.

A shot from Spain on a corner was saved with no room to spare by Hoffman, and the breakaway off the save for the Americans allowed for a goal seconds later on the other side of the field by Phia Gladieux.

“That was probably one of the coolest plays I've made in my career,” Hoffman said. “It was more of a reaction. When you're in the flow of the game, I think your reactions are quicker, and luck gets on your side a little bit. So, the ball found my stick, and somehow I looked up and saw my teammate. I saw a gap between the two attackers and just drag-flicked it out of the circle to a teammate. And it all happened so fast, and then all of a sudden, we were up, and we scored. So it was literally like in a blink of an eye, and that's how sport is; it can change.”

The Paris experience, and becoming an Olympian, was proof to herself that she is capable and good enough to be on the biggest stage possible.

“Paris was very much about achieving my own dreams and proving to myself that I could do it and to work with my team to get there,” she said, with a new mission in mind as she continues her career. “Why I came back is a lot more about inspiring the next generation. Inspiring the country as we're going to a home Olympic Games, wanting to medal, wanting to do better than we did in Paris. So I think my dream just got a little bit more expanded.”

Hoffman understands how full-circle of an opportunity it is to compete in Los Angeles to finish her Olympic career, the same place that her mom did in 1984. The emotions will certainly come with that when the time is right.

For now, there’s a mission to inspire via performance. The way Hoffman sees it, a mission is even stronger than motivation.

“I think something that I'm learning is you can have motivation, but I think that's separate from having a mission,” she said. “And having a mission is just like a different level of devotion, especially in sport.”

The mission continues in the FIH Hockey World Cup, which begins with Team USA’s pool play match against Argentina on August 15, the next chance for Hoffman to continue inspiring.