The fifth editions of the Men’s and Women’s Pan American Cups will get underway on 4 August (men) and 5 August (women) at Spooky Nook Sports in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Eight men’s teams and seven women’s teams will be competing for the titles and an automatic qualification spot at the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup, Bhubaneswar 2018 and the Hockey Women’s World Cup, London 2018.
Only the winning teams will receive an automatic qualification and with Argentina and Canada men and Argentina and USA women already qualified for their respective World Cup events via the Hockey World League Semi-Finals, the results at Spooky Nook could have wider implications for the qualification opportunities for other nations.
If any of the four teams named above win at the Pan Am Cup, then a World Cup qualification spot becomes available for some of the higher-placed teams who participated in the Hockey World League Semi-Finals, held in London (men), Brussels (women) and Johannesburg (men and women).
Keep up to date with all World Cup qualification news via www.fih.ch It has been 21 years since a major international hockey event took place on USA soil – and that was just one part of a multi-sport event, the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. From 4-13 August, Spooky Nook Sports in Pennsylvania – the home to the USA women’s team – will play host to the first field hockey-only major event to take place in the USA.
In another first, this will be a dual-gender Pan Am Cup, with men and women’s matches taking place on alternate days, previous editions have been at different venues.
Since it began in 2000, the Men’s Pan Am Cup has attracted 15 different nations. Argentina, Canada, Chile, Mexico and USA have competed in all four previous editions and will also be appearing at Spooky Nook this time around, while nations such as Peru, Netherlands Antilles, Jamaica and Cuba are all one-timers at the event.
Cuba has the distinction of being the only men’s team with a 100 per cent success rate. They entered the event in 2000 – held in Havana – won it after a 2-1 result over Canada, and have not appeared since.
Likewise, in the women’s event, 14 different teams have participated, with just Argentina, Canada and USA appearing at all four previous editions. Barbados, Bermuda, Guyana and Venezuela are among those with only one appearance. This year will herald Brazil women’s debut at the event.
The men’s event starts on 4 August and current holders and world number one side Argentina will be looking to repeat their success of 2013. Four years ago it was Gonzalo Peillat who scored all the goals in his team’s 4-0 win over Canada. If anything, Peillat’s game has got even stronger, so he will be one of many Argentinian’s who could prove match winners.
Argentina has already booked a ticket to the Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup courtesy of a second place finish behind the Netherlands at the London Hockey World League Semi-Final.
Canada men are ranked 11 in the world. They sealed their spot at the Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup with victory over India [ranked 6] at the London HWL Semi-final event.
Canada are the only men’s side to have appeared in every final of the Pan Am Cup to date. Coach Paul Bundy will be looking for the experience of veteran campaigners Scott Tupper, Richard Hildreth, Iain Smythe and goalkeeper David Carter to push for another podium place.
?Host nation USA (WR: 26) will want to build on their bronze medal at Hockey World League Round Two in Tacarigua, Trinidad and Tobago. Head coach Rutger Weise has been working hard with his squad and supporters can expect a good show from the host nation.
Chile (WR:27) have three bronze medals from the past three Pan American Games. The South American country is used to performing in tournaments, and beating higher ranked opponents. Chile put in an under-par performance when finishing seventh at Hockey World League Round Two in Tacarigua, Trinidad and Tobago, so captain Sven Richter and his team will be determined to put things right this time around and finish among the medals.
Brazil (WR: 29) qualified for this event after winning gold at the 2015 Pan American Challenge in Chiclayo, Peru. They finished fourth at the 2015 Pan American Games and their performance at the recent Rio 2016 Olympic Games provided an invaluable opportunity to play tournament hockey against higher-ranked teams.
Hosting a HWL Round Two event in April, Trinidad and Tobago (WR: 33) faced USA in the quarterfinal. Although they fell 3-2 in the shootout round, Trinidad and Tobago are a team that can prove a threat to higher ranked teams. As one of the oldest competitors at the event, 39-year-old Kwan Browne will be bringing a heap of experience and opponents write Trinidad and Tobago off at their peril.
No. 41 Mexico and No. 48 Venezuela both qualified for PAC from the Pan American Challenge. Mexico recently hosted and participated in the FIH Hockey World League Round 1 in Salamanca, Mexico in September 2016. Of the four-team event, Mexico showed impressive goal scoring abilities on their route to claim third. Venezuela also competed in Round 1 as well as the South American Championship in Chiclayo, Peru in 2016, where they came second to Chile.?
The women’s event gets underway on 5 August and there promiese to be some epic battles, not least between the teams ranked three and four in the world – Argentina and USA.
Having claimed every women’s Pan American Cup title since the event’s establishment, Argentina (WR:3) punched their tickets to the Women’s Hockey World Cup in London, England, at the FIH Hockey World League Semi-finals in Johannesburg,
South Africa. A 5-2 loss to England in the battle for third place in Johannesburg indicates that Argentina is still re-discovering its best form. Coach Agustin Corradini is introducing a number of new faces into the side but he still retains the experience offered by Noel Barrionuevo, Delfina merino and captain Belen Succi.
Host nation USA won the Hockey World League Semi-Final in Johannesburg in some style, claiming their first gold medal at a top tier global event. Add to this back-to-back Pan American Games titles  (2011 and 2015) and a bronze medal at the 2016 Champions Trophy in London and it is clear that the USA are a team with heaps of self belief.
Recent results has moved USA to fourth in the world rankings. There are danger players all over the pitch but one of the standout performers in Johannesburg at the Hockey World League Semi-Final was Michelle Vitesse, who is joined by sister Carissa Vitesse, as one of the new recruits to the side.
Canada women, ranked 19th in the world, have had a roller-coaster in recent seasons. On their day, they are very good and can challenge the best; on a bad day they under perform – a fifth place finish at the HWL Round Two in West Vancouver, Canada, was one such occasion. But this is a team that has recent experience against higher-ranked opponents and a podium place is well within their reach.
Chile (20) arrives at the Pan Am Cup on the back of a silver at HWL Round 2 in Vancouver, Canada in April. They lost in the final to India in a shootout but the result took them to the HWL Semi-finals in South Africa where they were in the same pool as Argentina and USA. Chile finished pool play with one win over the higher ranked host nation and the experience will have proved invaluable to this progressive team.
Also competing at the FIH Hockey World League Round Two in West Vancouver, Canada were Uruguay (23) and Mexico (30). Facing off against each other in the quarterfinal round, Uruguay came out victorious before falling to Chile in the semifinals to earn fourth. Mexico went on to claim sixth place.
At 41 Brazil are the lowest ranked and least internationally experienced side. They won the 2015 Pan American Challenge against Barbados, which was a qualifier for this event. The beauty of this tournament is that it gives teams such as Brazil a chance to compete on a inspirational sporting stage, and that experience can never be underestimated.
 
Men’s World Rankings
No. 1 Argentina
No. 11 Canada
No. 26 USA
No. 27 Chile
No. 29 Brazil
No. 33 Trinidad & Tobago
No. 41 Mexico
No. 48 Venezuela
Women’s World Rankings
No. 3 Argentina
No. 4 USA
No. 19 Canada
No. 20 Chile
No. 23 Uruguay
No. 30 Mexico
No. 41 Brazil
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