‘My injury taught me who I’m playing for,’ Cumberland Valley’s Marissa Muza on joining USA Field Hockey’s U-18 team at the FIH World Youth Hockey Festival after recovering from an ACL injury

Cumberland Valley’s Marissa Muza sets up taking a shot in the 2025 PIAA postseason. Photo: Bob Benscoter

It’s not every day that an Olympian gives you a quick phone call just to see how you’re doing.  

But that’s exactly what USA Women’s Field Hockey athlete Maddie Zimmer did for Marissa Muza during one of the loneliest stretches of her ACL recovery — and the gesture meant more than Zimmer may have realized. 

The call was human connection, a reminder that someone who had reached the highest level of the sport understood exactly how heavy an ACL injury could feel — the isolation, the missed opportunities, the fear of falling behind during a recruiting year, and the hard days when the comeback seemed far away. 

That encouragement helped Muza dig deeper. Instead of letting the injury define what she had lost, she began using it as motivation — pushing through rehab, rebuilding her confidence, and coming back stronger with a clearer sense of who and what she was playing for. 

Muza, a senior at Cumberland Valley High School, was selected in June to compete on USA Field Hockey's U-18 Women's Field Hockey team in the inaugural FIH World Hockey Youth Festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands.   

“I’m so excited,” Muza told Female Athlete News. “Honestly, it feels like a full-circle moment. I missed the whole cycle last time, worked so hard to get back, and now to be selected to play in Europe after my ACL injury — it’s really special. And my grandma gets to come, which makes it even more exciting.”  

Marissa Muza competing for Team USA. Photo: USA Field Hockey/Submitted

Muza unapologetically describes herself as "obsessed" with hockey. Competing in Europe on the U-18 team, alongside the 2026 FIH World Cup, is both a dream and a classroom. She watches international hockey players constantly, studying their movements, creativity and simplicity that make the European game so distinct. 

“I remember the first time I played against a Dutch team,” she said. “They moved the ball so effortlessly along the left side. Watching European players, women and men, you learn so much about how they see the game. You can take pieces of that and bring it into your own game, which is so exciting.”  

Field hockey has always been Muza’s outlet — the place she could run, compete, release frustration and feel surrounded by people who welcomed her. But her injury changed the way she understood the game. It reminded her that she was not only playing for herself.  

“My injury really taught me who I’m playing for,” she said. “I’m really faithful. I play for my God and Savior. I pray before my games. I play for my grandma, who passed away. I play for the people who sacrificed so much for me.”  

Her family’s support runs through the entire story. Her grandmother drove her to countless fields. Her mom, a nurse, worked long shifts through COVID and at times stayed away from home to keep her family safe. Her dad, aunt and grandparents have all become part of the reason she keeps pushing.  

“I want to make them proud and make it all worth it,” she said. “They sacrificed their free time, their energy, everything. To have my mom, aunt and grandma together at games — to play for them and everything they’ve done for me — means so much.”  

Muza tore her ACL in October 2024. She missed the Eagles postseason.  

Just three days before the 2025 high school season began, she was cleared to play.  

The injury, which had brought feelings of isolation and frustration, also instilled a new level of mental toughness.  

During that stretch, Zimmer’s call gave Muza perspective from someone who had been there, understood the emotional side of recovery and could reassure her that the hard days were part of the process, not the end of the story. 

“She told me everything girl-to-girl,” Muza said. “Even simple things, like how to get through hard bus rides when you feel isolated from the team. She had experienced the same emotions, and that helped me so much.”  

In time, the setback became a turning point.  

Marissa Muza is pictured carrying the ball in the first round of the 2025 PIAA tournament. Photo: Bob Benscoter

With Zimmer's support, Muza began to see the ACL tear not only as a challenge, but as one of the biggest blessings of her life.  

“It changed how I played,” she said. “I get to go to practice every day. I give 100 percent every practice and every game now. It changed my perspective.”  

One lesson that stuck with Muza came from a U-18 USA Field Hockey camp in 2022, when USA Field Hockey head coach David Passmore visited and shared the USA Field Hockey brand that he envisioned. He told the group, win the end game, be the most conditioned team, and keep hustling when others fade.  

“The Europeans are so skilled,” Muza said. “But the biggest thing you can do is be conditioned. We will hustle and win every ball. That approach was so beneficial.”  

That mentality shows up in the way she talks about 50/50 balls, controlling possession and competing late in games. She sees conditioning as more than fitness — it is a way to stay dangerous when the game becomes difficult.  

Before the injury, Muza admits she rarely gave herself permission to slow down. After not being selected for an April tour earlier in her career, she pushed harder and harder, often training before and after practice and running herself into the ground.  

Now, she is learning that rest is not weakness. Sundays at church, where she is part of the worship team, have become a reset. She pays closer attention to her body, her knee, her recovery and the small warning signs she might have ignored before.  

She has worn a Whoop for more than 1,000 days, using the data to understand sleep, strain and recovery. If her recovery dips after a tournament or a poor night of sleep, she adjusts — earlier bedtime, active recovery, a walk or a swim instead of pushing blindly.  

“I’m very in tune with what’s most efficient to keep myself safe,” she said. “It’s OK to rest. I do deserve a break.”  

Entering her senior year of high school, the Wake Forest commit, said she wants to turn the lessons from last season into something bigger: a stronger start, a deeper postseason run and memories made on their home turf.  

“We hope to go really far this year,” she said. “I’d love to medal. We really want to make it to states. It’s on our home turf, and I can’t imagine life without a lot of these teammates." 

U-18 Women’s National Field Hockey Roster

Valentina Baizan, Houston, TX

Lola Conway, San Diego, CA

Alexandra Curtis, Richmond, VA

Charlotte De Schepper, Acton, MA

Finnley Desloge, Saint Louis, MO

Sunday Draper, Quakertown, PA

Peyton Esposito, Wayne, PA

Cheyenne Greene, Sellerville, PA

Jadyn Houston, Austin, TX

Julia McGlynn, Fort Washington, PA

Josefina Molinari, Bethesda, MD

Marissa Muza, Mechanicsburg, PA

Kitt Neel, Villanova, PA

Caitlin Paul, Lansdale, PA

Nina Piazza, Houston, TX

Margaux Schlumberger, Santa Monica, CA

Catherine Tortolani, Towson, MD

Emily Ulrich, Gilbertsville, PA

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