As the Penn State speedy forward heads upfield towards the opponent’s goal you can hear the other team and their fans scream out “Backhand, watch out for the backhand”, and that’s just what she does as she launches a rocket shot towards the goal past the sprawling goalkeeper. You can hear the ball hit hard in the back of the goal giving another goal to the talented Phia Gladieux. And that’s just one of the reasons she has been selected for the 2024 USA Field Hockey Olympics team.
The 4-year starter will also return to her beloved Nittany Lions for a fifth season and is very honored to be awarded her first trip to the Olympic Games in Paris. Phia has had a legendary career at Penn State where she has picked up her third straight first-team All-America honor and her fourth overall (she was a second-team pick as a freshman in 2020). Gladieux led Penn State in scoring last season with 45 points off a team-best 21 goals and three assists. She is ranked fourth all-time at Penn State with 158 career points off 74 goals, 10 assists, and 22 game-winning goals.
Gladieux was first-team All-Big Ten, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, 2023 All-Big Ten Tournament Team and first-team NFHCA All-Region. In addition to being a four-time All-American, Gladieux is a four-time first-team All-Region pick, a four-time first-team All-Big Ten selection, a two-time NFHCA Regional Player of the Year, a two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and has been honored as both the Big Ten Player of the Year and Penn State’s Female Athlete of the Year.
Phia has been playing field hockey for 14 years, since 3rd grade. Her older sister Sarah, (who just recently graduated with a law degree from Rutgers), played first and she just kind of followed in her footsteps. Also, many of her friends were playing so to her it was a no-brainer. And she wanted to play forward because that’s where you can score “super cool goals” as she says.
“This is the biggest honor an athlete could ever receive, and I am forever grateful that I was given this opportunity,” Phia states describing being chosen for the team. “It was a super surreal and emotional time for me. Excited doesn’t give my feelings justice! I was just super happy and proud of myself for how far I have come.”
Phia has always been very confident in herself and her abilities and has big goals for the Olympics. She is set to push herself beyond any limit and to go way out of her comfort zone. This is the absolute best of the best for her, and she and everyone is going to be working at 110%.
She and her team will move into the Olympic Village a week before the opening ceremony which is on July 26th. The field hockey games will be played at Yves-du-Manoir which is considered a “legacy venue.” The United States will be playing its first game against Argentina on July 27th, at 1:45 p.m.
After the Olympics, she will be coming back to Penn State for her last season and will be graduating in December, and will then be moving back down to Charlotte and becoming fully centralized to train full-time on the national team.
Phia has a very strong support system with many friends and fans but much support from her beloved family, her father Bunky, mother Lynn, sister Sarah, Brother Scott, and as she describes him the “goodest boy in the whole world Barkley her mini bernedoodle!”
“I would just like to thank everyone in my life who has made an impact on where I am today–big or small, everything counts and I am so beyond grateful for those people in my life,” Phia stated. A special shoutout to my dad, he was there with me through it all and since day 1. He saw the good, bad, and ugly, and has supported me and pushed me to be the athlete and person I am today. I am especially grateful for him and everything he has sacrificed for me. “
