‘I Knew I Had to Take a Leap’: Gladieux Took a Gamble Training in Charlotte in 2024, and Now, She’s A Staple

Phia Gladieux was a month into student-teaching at Pleasant Gap Elementary – ten minutes from Penn State’s campus – and she got the text.

It was David Passmore, head coach of the United States Women’s National Team. He was inviting Phia to Charlotte, North Carolina, and train with the national team, with a spot on the Paris 2024 Olympic roster on the line.

For most, it’s an opportunity that would take less than a minute to jump at. For Phia, it took nearly two weeks to come to what she calls “one of the hardest decisions” she’s ever made.

“It was definitely one of the hardest decisions I've made in my life for so many different reasons,” she said. “I mean, for starters, I've always struggled with anxiety, and change has always been a very big trigger for me. The magnitude of this change was definitely very evident to me, and knowing I'd have to unenroll in school and move to a city I've never lived in before. I grew up in PA; I went to school in PA. It would just be a complete change of scenery, a new team, new girls, a new coach. Like, there were just so many things that would be different. And so I think for me that was the scariest part.”

Initially, it was going to be a “no” on the return text to Passmore. Gladieux could already feel the regret from a decision she hadn’t even made yet. Every field hockey player grows up dreaming of getting a chance to be on an Olympic team. She had an open door to do it, and was ready to pass it up.

“I did think back, like, ‘Oh, my gosh, think about the little girl [in myself],’” said Gladieux.

Everyone Gladieux talked to urged her to go. She talked to her dad, Bunky, sister, Sarah, and boyfriend, Kevin, and they all shared the same viewpoint.

“They were just like ‘You're totally letting your anxiety and your fear get in the way of this opportunity right now,’” said Gladieux, recalling the powerful messages that helped overturn her decision. “Deep down, Phia wants this. The Phia that they've always known and had seen training since I was nine years old in my driveway, hitting field hockey balls against my dad's garage. They knew deep down Phia wanted to become an Olympian. That was always a known goal of mine. And so they knew the anxiety in me was speaking. And so those conversations with them, when they kind of called it out, I was really frustrated, but I was also very grateful that they did that.”

Another text from Passmore came in. He needed a decision from Gladieux as soon as possible. Her no was flipped to a yes, and she couldn’t have gotten more support from the people at Pleasant Gap; she’d be leaving in a more abrupt manner than expected.

“Not everyone cares about sports or the Olympics,” Gladieux said. “Not everyone understands the pride that comes with it. They were just so supportive. [That support] absolutely relieved me of my anxiety because I didn't want to let them down.”

Gladieux unenrolled from Penn State for the Spring 2024 semester, moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, and went from casual offseason training to the most intense training she’s ever gone through.

At the time, she hadn’t been picking up a stick every day. She was doing a lot more work in the weight room, but that was all about to change. After her first conditioning session in Charlotte, she felt like she wanted to vomit. She thought to herself, “Oh, I’m in for a rude awakening.”

There was no other option but to dig in deeper, though.

“I was like, ‘You know what? I committed to it, and I'm just going to show up every day and do everything that I can in my power.’ And it was like, ‘Whatever happens, happens.”

She knew Passmore would not have extended the invitation to her if he didn’t think she could get in shape in time. And she did. Gladieux worked harder than she’d ever worked before, and when it came time for selections, she felt like she had a chance.

Her sister, Sarah, in typical sister fashion, thought she was a shoo-in. She made Phia come over to her apartment in Exton, Pennsylvania, for the selection release. Gladieux had been awake for hours before the 8 a.m. release, “anxious as ever.”

Right on schedule, Passmore sent out the Microsoft Teams notification. Sarah asked Phia if that notification was what they’d been waiting for, and she said no. It was a lie. Phia knew it was, and better yet, knew she’d made the team.

There’s no handbook on how to handle capturing a dream that every field hockey player in the United States has dreamed of. Phia ran out of the apartment, only to be chased by her older sister. It became apparent Phia was going to Paris.

“I literally knew you’d make it,” said Sarah, again, in typical sister fashion. “Ok, well I didn’t!,” Phia emphatically replied.

The next month, Phia and her 15 teammates headed to Ireland for a quick pit stop before continuing on to France. It was around eight hours in an airplane, which is now “cakewalking” to Gladieux. It wasn’t always that way, as Gladieux has and continues to struggle with anxiety around travel.

“That was another thing that had been lingering in my head before I made this decision,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh, this means I'm going to also face one of my fears of traveling and being on planes.’ And to some people, it's like, ‘Okay, that sounds silly,’ but, truly, that is something that has always been debilitating for me.”

Through a lot of self-work, she’s getting through it. She finds herself able to put away the once “debilitating” thoughts of travel more often now, and look forward to whatever the next adventure is going to be.

Once the team got to Paris, the group of 16 first-time Olympians were all blown away with the magnitude and size of an event they’d be a part of. Legends in other sports like Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky, and LeBron James were everywhere.

Gladieux got selfies on the night of the Opening Ceremonies with Stephen Curry, and the star of her favorite basketball team, Joel Embiid of Team USA and the Philadelphia 76ers. It was nearly impossible not to feel imposter syndrome.

“I'm like, ‘Do I belong here?’,’” said Gladieux, recalling how she felt. “These people don't know who I am. But then, it was also a really cool kind of moment where I'm like, ‘You know what? They're here because they're really good at their sport, and we’re here because we're really good at our sport.”

It didn’t take long for Gladieux to prove that she was, in fact, really good at her sport. Team USA faced Spain in their second game of the Olympics, a 1-1 draw on July 29, 2024. The lone goal scorer for the Americans was Gladieux.

Team USA veteran Ashley Hoffman had just made a key save on the goal line, nullifying Spain’s chance of scoring on a corner. Gladieux rushed down the field, trying to get towards the back post of the goal as quickly as possible.

She was expecting a cross and an opportunity to tip the ball in on a bang-bang play. Instead, the ball deflected off of a Spain defender, setting it towards Gladieux’s forehand side, rather than her trademarked backhand.

“I knew the goalie was completely out of line because she went to pressure Megan [Valzonis],” recalled Gladieux. “If I just get good contact and hit this ball, I’m going to score. This is all happening in like a tenth of a second. I think that play right there is a testament to how freaking cool field hockey is, and why more people should watch it.”

Passmore said that the goal was one of the best he’s ever seen on a team he’s coached.

“I just remember looking at Ashley Sessa, and we’re just screaming and pumping our arms,” Gladieux said. “That was just the most surreal moment.”

Gladieux’s dad, Bunky, was having his own surreal moment in the crowd. He had sat two rows in front of Philadelphia Eagles legend Jason Kelce, and the two embraced each other in the stands as Phia’s goal put the United States ahead.

Gladieux remembers how much her experience in Paris excites her for what an Olympics on home soil could look like in 2028, as the games move to Los Angeles. Perhaps, she’ll have a chance to compete and attend the opening or closing ceremonies. Even though she’s got an Olympic Games under her belt already, she hasn’t attended either ceremony yet.

The entire team missed the Opening Ceremonies in Paris because of a game scheduled for the very next day. Gladieux also flew back, alongside Ashley Sessa, five days before the closing ceremonies, in order to get back to the US to get rolling on their college seasons.

Gladieux went on to have a season worthy of an All-American First Team selection, and became Penn State’s all-time leading point scorer and goal scorer.

Now, Gladieux is gearing up for another opportunity to represent the country on a large-scale level. She’s come a long way from that eight-year-old girl who cried to her dad after being benched in a kids club tournament. At that point, she didn’t think she was any good at the sport.

“I’m honestly so grateful that happened,” said Gladieux. “I think we were at a tournament at Muhlenberg. I just remember being so devastated; it was so silly, but it really upset me. All my friends were really, really good because they had older siblings that played. They had been introduced and had been really exposed and just knew the game. I just remember being like, ‘I am not going to go through this again.’ I just got really obsessed with it, and just really driven internally.”

Eventually, all the obsession and drive led to that text from Passmore, one she almost wrote off and said no to.

Her favorite quote is by basketball legend and Hall-of-Famer Michael Jordan: “Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.”

It wasn’t intentional, but it’s quite fitting that Gladieux wore Jordan’s jersey number, 23, in Paris. Had she not heeded the advice in that quote, she may not be training in Charlotte today for the FIH Hockey World Cup, which begins on August 15.

“We always think about the what-ifs, and we always think about the negatives and anything that could go wrong,” Gladieux explained. “And it's like, ‘Why don't we also look at the positives and the opportunity that it could come with and the doors that it can open?”

For Gladieux, the door was opened when she turned her no into a yes, and she’s made the most of that open door.