DEXTER, Mich. — Last summer, Abby Tamer made the decision to step away from University of Michigan field hockey to chase her Olympic dreams.
"There's no way I would have made a different decision, but in the moment, it was pretty difficult," Tamer said. "My coaches were super supportive no matter what way I was leaning each day."
That included stepping away from classes as well. It was only this past winter semester that she took classes again. "It was actually really nice to have something to keep me a little grounded and little back to the real world for that for that bit of time."
Tamer's had her eyes set on the Olympics since she was young but the vision began coming to fruition in high school.
"Around my sophomore year of high school is when I started making the junior national team programs, and that's when I was like 'okay, it's actually a little bit realistic that I end up being in a position where I can put in the work and potentially go to an Olympics."
After joining Team USA to advance, her light would shine in the U.S.' Olympic qualifier match against Japan.
With a little over six minutes to go, a near-post shot by Tamer would be the deciding goal in the U.S. 2-1 win over Japan, sending the Americans to the Olympics after the team missed out on the 2020 Tokyo Games.
"I remember clear as day thinking the way that the goalie's positioned and where the ball is, 'this is gonna come right back out to me,' Tamer said as she recalled the goal.
"I'm gonna get it, gonna hit it, and we'll see what happens from there. And it went in, and that was an unbelievable feeling."
The feeling would only be duplicated six months later. On June 11, Hamer got the call that made her an Olympian.
"That just like really made me feel pretty gratified in all the work that I had put in this past year."
It was a dream that Hamer said could not have been reached without her support base of friends, family and coaches.
Chris, her dad, played 11 years in the NHL.
"I actually find myself going to my dad a lot more now, because in the NHL, he has so many great bits of advice that I can use now where I would have never been able to use in high school like playing in front of so many people."
Keely, her mom, also played field hockey at Michigan. She later ended up coaching Abby during her daughter's high school playing days.
"I think both of them just helped me learn how to perform under pressure, but also not get caught up in the little mistakes that I might make because it's definitely going to happen every game," Hamer said.
"There's no way to play a perfect game so being able to overcome that is really important. I think they've done a good job of never really harping on any mistake I would make."
Following the Olympics, Tamer will re-join her Wolverine teammates. She has two more years of eligibility.
"I get to go back...I still have my classmates, and we're still going to live together," said Tamer. "So that part definitely makes it easier."
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