USA Field Hockey Brings New Staff Members on Board

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Field Hockey is pleased to welcome four new, full-time staff members on board. Sean Rapaport is the Head of Umpiring, Brian Tyson is the Umpire Services Coordinator, Emily Hewitt the Director of Membership, Governance and Safe Sport, and Ginger Wheeler the Commercial Partnership and Marketing Manager.

“I am delighted to welcome Sean, Brian, Emily and Ginger to the staff team,” said Simon Hoskins, USA Field Hockey’s Executive Director. “They bring considerable expertise and passion to serve the members of USA Field Hockey and grow our sport.”

Rapaport brings more than 20 years of umpiring experience and knowledge with him, including having represented South Africa internationally at the highest levels of the game while remaining actively involved in the sport locally as an umpire, umpire manager, coach and disciplinary chairman. He currently sits on the FIH World Cup and Pro League Panels for outdoor umpires and has officiated more than 70 senior international matches.

He is also involved in the South African Hockey Association, officiating nationally as well as mentoring and engaging with the body of younger umpires, working with umpire managers and helping fill roles as needed. On top of officiating with the Western Province and Northerns Hockey Unions, Rapaport also delivers training and Q&A sessions and helps recruit and develop new umpires.

Rapaport attended and represented Rondebosch Boys High School in Cape Town while simultaneously playing for Western Province Cricket Club, as a goalkeeper, from age 12, helping the elite club to multiple league championships.

While pursuing his passion for hockey, Rapaport has practiced as a lawyer for the past 17 years, having graduated from the University of Cape Town in 2005, working in high pressure situations and positions of responsibility while building an extensive practice providing wide-ranging legal advice and services.

He brings with him two additional members to the USA Field Hockey Family – his wife Liz and daughter Lucy.

Tyson began playing field hockey at 10 years old and played in the Disney Showcase and Boy’s/ Men’s National Indoor Tournament. He has officiated the sport from the middle school to Division I level for the past 5 years. He has also officiated at all of USA Field Hockey’s premier events. 

Tyson grew up in a field hockey family, with his parents, Jen and Scotty, running the Saints Field Hockey Club for the past 25 years. His sister, Courtney, also played at Randolph Macon College.

When not found at the pitch, Tyson is an avid golfer and enjoys traveling.

Hewitt joined USA Field Hockey in August as Director of Membership, Governance and Safe Sport. She comes after serving as a member of the Risk and Compliance Department at USA Triathlon, focusing primarily on Safe Sport. Prior to joining USA Triathlon, she spent a year at USA Team Handball, as Administrative Manager, and a year at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee as a Strategy and Business Consulting Analyst. 

Hewitt attended Middlebury College and Columbia University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology in 2016 from Middlebury and a Master of Science in Sports Management in 2018 from Columbia.

Hewitt resides in Colorado Springs, Colo. with her kitten, Sprout. She is a spin instructor at a local boutique fitness studio, Cycology Studio, and a member of the local rugby club, Pikes Peaks Rugby Club. In her free time, she enjoys skiing, golfing and hiking. Despite currently living in Colorado, Hewitt still considers Vermont home, where she grew up skiing at Sugarbush Mountain in the winter and working as a tour guide at the Ben and Jerry’s Factory in the summer. 

Wheeler joined USA Field Hockey in June 2022 as the Commercial Partnership and Marketing Manager, working to manage and build relationships with sponsors, partners, licensees and vendors. She previously worked as a director of marketing and public relations where she oversaw all aspects of marketing for both a trade association and community foundation, including working with trade shows in addition to sponsorship marketing and activation. She successfully managed tradeshows at both the Atlanta and Las Vegas convention centers during her professional career.

Wheeler’s experience with field hockey and sports includes assisting to bring a field hockey program to her local park district and helping raise funds to bring a turf field to her community high school in the early 2000s. She and her husband, Paul, reside in the Chicago suburbs where together they raised three sons, all of whom were athletes through high school and college, playing ice hockey, football, baseball and lacrosse. One son continues on in the role of coach for University of California, San Diego’s recreation ice hockey program. 

Wheeler is thrilled to be working at the National Governing Body for the sport of field hockey to drive the sponsorship revenue needed to achieve the organization’s mission to grow the game, serve members and succeed internationally.

Join USA Field Hockey in welcoming Rapaport, Tyson, Hewitt and Wheeler to Team USA!