Umstead, Marks selected to FIH Pro League roster
The 2019 new year will mark a new era for field hockey fans with the launch of the FIH Pro League.
Set to debut in early 2019, this home-and-away entertainment event will provide for the first time ever, a regular calendar of events played across the world.
U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Janneke Schopman and her coaching staff named the 25-athlete roster on Monday that will participate in the inaugural league, involving the world’s top field hockey nations across the globe.
Among the selections were Upper Perkiomen and University of Connecticut graduate Casey Umstead on defense along with midfielder Kelly (Bonner) Marks, a graduate of Owen J. Roberts who went on to play collegiate hockey at Old Dominion and University of Albany.
Umstead was the Mercury’s All-Area Player of the Year during her senior season with the Tribe in 2013. As a captain that season, she scored a team-best 51 goals and registered 17 assists on the way to being named to the Pennsylvania High School Field Hockey Coaches Association AllState First Team. She was a member of the 2012-13 USA Field Hockey Jr. Women’s U-19 National Indoor team as well as the 2014 U-19 National Team.
At UConn, Umstead started all 70 games from her sophomore season up through her senior year.
She finished her senior season with the Huskies as a National Field Hockey Coaches Association First Team selection, was named to the All-Region First Team and the NCAA All-Tournament and was also named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year. She finished second on the team in points (46), goals (34) and assists (12) and led the team with seven game-winning goals.
As a junior, Umstead was named Third Team AllAmerican, First Team AllMideast Region and First Team All-Big East.
Marks was named the Mercury’s All-Area Player of the Year following her senior season at Owen J. Roberts in 2009. During her time with OJR, she played on the Junior High Performance team and selected to play for the U-21 National Team before going on to train in San Diego for the U-21 Junior World Team.
After transferring from Old Dominion, Marks started in 51 of 60 games with University of Albany and racked up 14 goals and four assists during her three years with the Great Danes.
“The [FIH] Pro League is an exciting unknown that we as a team are looking forward to,” said Schopman. “The opportunity to play high-level games on a consistent basis is something we have never had and gives us the opportunity to play in a high-pressure environment.” The amount of travel brings an interesting element to all of this in terms of preparation, but we are ready to hit the ground running.”