The LA 2028 Olympic Games has officially designated the fields at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, as the venue for Olympic field hockey.
Located south of downtown Los Angeles, the complex — which already hosts a range of elite sporting events — will be adapted to meet world-class hockey standards.
Hockey will be played in Carson alongside rugby sevens and tennis, while the velodrome at the park will host the track cycling events.
FIH president Tayyab Ikram welcomed the decision, calling it “a bold step” that reflects the sport’s ambition to strengthen its global profile.
“We are excited that hockey will have such a prestigious stage at LA28,” Ikram said. “This is part of our wider strategy to innovate and inspire the next generation.”
The FIH is currently with a CEO, a position that Ikram seems happy to keep. Last year he told THP that the FIH was in “no rush” to appoint a chief executive and it would be no surprise to see Ikram still overseeing the sport.
The Carson fields, set within the expansive sports park that also houses Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy, will undergo enhancements to deliver top-tier playing surfaces and spectator facilities.
Ikram emphasised that LA28 presents an “extraordinary opportunity” to expand hockey’s footprint, not least across the already-popular women’s game but also with the men.
The LA 2028 Games will take place from July 14-30.
About Carson facilities
The velodrome, which has been refurbished since hosting track cycling at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 1984, is an official US Olympic training site.
The tennis venue is home to the US Tennis Association’s high-performance training centre, while rugby sevens will be held in the same stadium that regularly hosts the World Rugby Sevens Series.
The fields adjacent to the stadium are currently used as a training facility for LA Galaxy, and will be transformed into a world-class temporary hockey venue featuring the latest artificial turf technologies.
