Keely Tamer - Executive Director

Keely has dedicated more than 15 years to growing the sport of field hockey in Michigan and the region. After earning her BA in Education and a Masters in Social Studies Education from the University of Michigan, Tamer went on to pursue her passion in sports at Kent State University, where she earned her Masters in Sports Administration.

Tamer comes to GLRFH with one mission in mind, to serve and support field hockey in the Great Lakes Region by providing the foundation for a network of thriving field hockey communities. The focus for growth is multi-faceted, from supporting and promoting lifetime engagement and cultivating coaching and umpire growth, to providing new play opportunities across the region for all ages and levels of experience.

Since taking the helm at GLRFH, participants across a wide-span of communities in Michigan have grown year over year:

2020 - 281 participating athletes
2021 - 426 participating athletes
2022 - 591 participating athletes/ 53 coach members

Tamer has provided programming for athletes (ages 5 - 50+) from the following communities in Southeast Michigan:

Ann Arbor, Brighton, Birmingham, Bloomfield, Bloomfield Hills, Canton, Chelsea, Clarkston, Commerce Twp, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Detroit, Dexter, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Fenton, Grass Lake, Gregory, Green Oak, Grosse Ile Twp, Grosse Pointe, Grosse Pointe Park, Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Shores, Hartland, Howell, Linden, Livonia, Madison Heights, Manchester, Milford, Mt. Clemens, Northville, Novi, Pinckney, Plymouth, Rochester Hills, Royal Oak, Saline, Scio, South Lyon, St. Clair Shores, Superior Twp., Troy, Wayne, West Bloomfield, Whitmore Lake, Ypsilanti

Other Communities outside of Southeast Michigan:

Byron Center, East Lansing, Grand Rapids, Greenville, Holly, Midland, Perrysburg, Sylvania, Maumee, Wyoming. SHAPE Conference presenter.

Tamer is an experienced small business owner of three businesses: Barn Field Hockey, specializing in skill development through semi-private training; Owner of CrossFit Dexter (2011-2015) focused on growing fitness and wellness opportunities within the local community; Co-owner of CrossFit Brighton (with husband Chris Tamer) from 2008-Present.

Tamer, as two-time captain of the University of Michigan field hockey team, assistant coach at Kent State University, and tenured head coach of the historied championship program at Dexter High School (2014, 2019, 2020, 2022 state titles) brings a wealth of first-hand experience to GLRFH. A key contributor to the Dexter Field Hockey community, President of the Michigan Chapter of USA Field Hockey (2020-2024), Club Coach at Pinnacle Field Hockey (2011-Present), and a small business owner, Keely has an array of experiences that make her the right fit as GLRFH's first Executive Director.
Hired to guide the initiation of programs and fundraising goals, Keely is positioned to continue to effectively grow field hockey in the Great Lakes Region.

Communications Director - Jessie Veith Rouleau

Jessie Veith Rouleau - Communications Director

Jessie is a seasoned writer and communications consultant with over five years of experience in content writing, audience engagement and expansion. Her passion for field hockey spans 30 years, starting in Oak Park, IL, where she first discovered her love of the game at age 11. After participating in USA Field Hockey Futures program & Windy City club field hockey (Chicago, IL), Jessie went on to play collegiately at the University of Michigan (1998-2002), where she captained the 2001 National Championship Team. In 1999, her team won the Big Ten Tournament Championship and finished as NCAA Runner Up, and Rouleau earned an NCAA All-Tournament Team selection. In 2000, the team earned the Big Ten Championship Title & Big Ten Tournament Championship.

Rouleau is the Varsity Coach at Grosse Pointe South High School where her team earned the Division 2 Championship Title in 2021 and finished as Division 2 Runner Up in 2020. Rouleau also served as Secretary for the Michigan Chapter of USA Field Hockey (2020-2023) and in 2019, founded the youth field hockey program at the Neighborhood Club of Grosse Pointe, where she is currently the Program Supervisor, serving over 100 participants. In 2020, Rouleau also established Grosse Pointe United, a community middle school team.

abby tamer program director at great lakes regional field hockey and events manager at GLRFH

Abby Tamer - Legacy Field Hockey Program Director/Lead Coach & GLRFH Events Coordinator

Abby joins GLRFH as a redshirt Junior on University of Michigan's field hockey team. Originally from Dexter, Michigan, Abby started playing field hockey when she was 12 years old through her local rec & ed program. She went on to play with Pinnacle FHC and Dexter High School, winning back-to-back state titles in 2019 & 2020. Abby started coaching field hockey as a sophomore in high school and expanded her coaching role in 2021 as the U19 coach for Pinnacle FHC. While training with the national team, she coached for Charlotte Ambush FHC. She has also coached for Barn Field Hockey and at her alma mater, Dexter Field Hockey.

High School Accolades:
2x Michigan High School Field Hockey Association's Player of the Year
2x MHSFHA Dream Team selection
4x Michigan All-State first team selection
4x Dexter offensive MVP; two-time Dexter team co-captain
Max Field Hockey Class of 2021 Top 10 Player

Abby is studying Applied Exercise Science, returning to U of M this fall after playing on the US Women's National Team at the Paris Olympic Games. Abby is a world class field hockey player who is dedicated to coaching and supervising our lineup of programs at the Legacy Center Sports Complex in Brighton, Michigan. She will also run special events and trainings throughout the year.

Margi Whittingham - Development Program Director

Margi Scholtes Whittingham comes to GLRFH as the Development Program Director where she is responsible for GLRFH's local youth field hockey programming across the state of Michigan. Margi is a Michigan native with 25 years of field hockey experience. She began her lifelong field hockey career playing on Grosse Pointe South’s first field hockey team, winning the state championship her junior year. She went onto play collegiately at Tufts University (2006-2009), where she captained her team and led them to two NCAA final four appearances and a Division III National Championship game. While on the field at Tufts, Margi earned personal accolades including first team All-American (2008, 2009), New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Defensive Player of the Year (2008) and the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) New England West Region Player of the Year (2009). Post-graduation, Margi coached at both Tufts University and Johns Hopkins University. After earning her nursing degree from Johns Hopkins, Margi transitioned to coaching at the high school level. In Margi’s first year as a head coach at Ann Arbor Huron High School, the team won the State Championship (2013). Margi’s job unexpectedly took her overseas for the next seven years. While in Hong Kong, Margi played internationally in the Hong Kong premier league. Since returning to Michigan, Margi has helped coach at Grosse Pointe South High School and developed an elementary school after school field hockey program in the Grosse Pointe community. She lives in Grosse Pointe with her husband and three children where she is an active member of the community serving on the board of the Farm’s Foundation and as Vice President of Kerby School Parent Teacher Organization.

Western Pennsylvania field hockey. stacey wollerton content curator great lakes regional field hockey

STACEY WOLLERTON - Western PA Content Curator

Stacey has a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s Degree in Administration and Supervision. She has taught at the elementary level in public and private settings as well as at the college level. Stacey is very passionate about education and loves to see the light come on when a student (of any age) learns something new.

Stacey began watching field hockey and learning about the game when her daughter, Rylie, started playing. As Rylie continued to grow and evolve from youth summer league programs that she joined for fun, to a more competitive club and school player, Stacey found herself spending countless hours at practices, camps, and clinics. Learning field hockey through her daughter's experiences and growth in the game provided a passion that Stacey was not expecting!

Stacey loves the sport, enjoys watching all levels and truly wishes she had the opportunity to play when she was younger. Stacey has served on the field hockey board for both high schools that Rylie attended and was the social media coordinator. She is excited to help grow the game in Western PA!

INTERNS

Anna Abela - intern

AnnaLyssia ‘Anna’ Abela joined the GLRFH team in January 2024 as a Storyteller Intern. As a Dearborn, Michigan native, she started playing field hockey at Dearborn High School in 9th grade. After discovering her passion for the game, she joined the Pinnacle Field Hockey club for two years under Keely Tamer and Nancy Cox.

Anna was a four-year Varsity player, earning All-State honors (‘17, ‘18), and was co-captain of the winningest season in over 10-years her senior year. She also contributed to the U19 Pinnacle FHC 1st place finish in Pool A at the National Hockey Festival in 2018.

After graduating high school, she went on to play collegiately at Concordia University Wisconsin (2019-2023). There she earned All- Tournament Team (‘20, ‘22), All-Conference First Team (‘21, ‘22), NFHCA All-Academic (‘20, ‘21, ‘22), was named Defensive MVP for her university team (‘20, ‘21, ‘22), and lead the DIII statistical category for defensive saves her senior season. Anna was also a U16/U19 coach for the Milwaukee Cheeseburners summer field hockey program in 2023, under Derek Aspinall.

She earned a dual- Bachelors degree in Psychology and Social Work (‘23) and is currently completing her Masters of Business Administration (‘24) in Rome, Italy while competing with UH Capitolina in Serie A1. She is excited to bridge the gap between her passion for field hockey and her career interests through this internship, and hopes to grow the community of field hockey!

Makayla Kegerreis - Intern

Makayla began playing field hockey in 3rd grade through Chelsea (MI) Rec & Ed. In high school, she was a 4-year varsity athlete, senior captain, and was selected 1st Team All-State and 1st Team SEC All-Region (2021). She played for both Pinnacle FHC and Fer de Lance FHC, and participated in USA Field Hockey Futures (Nexus) programs, earning a spot on MAX Field Hockey’s Top 100 Players of the Class of 2022, (2018). Makayla was a seasonal umpire for Ann Arbor Rec & Ed and for FDL’s winter league. Now beginning her 3rd and final year at the University of Michigan, she is majoring in International Studies and Spanish and minoring in Social Media Analysis and Design. She is excited to connect her passion for field hockey with her interest in social media content creation.

Sam Skinner - INTERN

Sam joined the GLRFH Team in Fall of 2022 through our internship program. Her responsibilities include Legacy Field Hockey coordination, planning, communications and media, research projects, event coordination, and other database management.

Sam began playing field hockey in third grade, through Dexter Community Ed and continued on to play for Dexter High School, under Keely Tamer. She has coached the Dexter Middle School team for three seasons and has spent seven years coaching within the Dexter Community Ed Program. She also currently coaches for GLRFH at Legacy Center in Brighton, MI.

A gap year in Colorado confirmed her passion for the environment and sustainability, and she is planning to transfer to the University of Michigan's PITE Program in the Fall of 2023.