Monroeville's Putz to play for U.S. Women's Masters O-35 team

After excelling in red and white at Delsea Regional High School, Elizabeth (Unger) Putz will have the opportunity of a lifetime when she gets to add a little blue to the mix.

Putz has earned a spot on the U.S. Women’s Masters O-35 Field Hockey Team, which will begin play in EXIN Masters World Cup in Terressa, Spain.

The 35-year-old center midfielder, of Monroeville, will put on the USA uniform officially for the first time when the Americans play England on July 28. The tournament runs through Aug. 5.

“It’s a dream come true for any athlete to get the chance to represent the country you love,” Putz said. “Getting to hear the national anthem for a game is special for athletes. I’m sure it’s going to be emotional for me when I hear it and be playing for our country.

“I can’t wait to get over there and start playing.”

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After playing collegiate field hockey at Ohio University and Rowan, Putz remained active in the sport competing in women’s leagues at Total Turf Experience in Pitman two nights a week throughout the year. She also helped coach at Cherokee High School for seven years before helping out her mom, veteran coach Meg Unger, at Delsea.

“She never stopping playing hockey, it was her first love,” Meg Unger said.

Putz, a health and physical education teacher at Delsea Middle School, stepped down from coaching to spend more time with her family, husband Steve and three children, Ayden (5), Chase (3) and Makayla (1).

“Coaching was always something I loved because you had that connection with the kids,” Putz said. “To see how they all changed from the first day of practice to the final day of the season, it was a really unique experience to be a part of each year.”

While she gave up coaching, Putz didn’t give up competing in the sport.  

She attended several tryout camps in an effort to make the national team. Putz, who celebrated her 35th birthday on Friday, just made the cut for the new age group O-35 added this year.

Putz learned that she made the team in an email sent by the organization in February.

“I was truly shocked,” she said. “I couldn’t believe I made it. It was about 10:30 at night, but I had to tell somebody, I just texted my mom.”

Putz was a four-year starter for the Crusaders before graduating in 2001. She was a member of Delsea’s first-ever divisional championship team in field hockey in 1999.

“That was the best moment,” she said. “Getting the chance to put that (championship) board up in the gymnasium as the first team was so huge for us.”

Playing for the national team is just another way the game of field hockey has enriched her life, Putz said.

“This game has given me so much, on an off the field,” she said. “I just love to see how the game continues to change and continues to grow. And along with all the relationships I’ve developed with players and kids I’ve coached, the sport has meant so much to me.”  

Tom McGurk; @McGurkSports; (856) 486-2420; tmcgurk@gannett.com