By: Amanda Joy

The Beaver field hockey team has won only two games so far. After losing four seniors last year, all of whom had a positive impact on the team, the field hockey team seems almost brand new. In fact, there are eight freshmen on the team this year. A newcomer to the sport and the team Charlotte Nielsen ‘21 says “[her] experience as a new player could not be any better!” and she “literally have not ever been a part of something quite as special and amazing as [the] team”.

The team is led by seniors Amanda Joy ‘19, Madeline Tallarico ‘19 and Lauren Yung ‘19, who have all been playing on the team since freshman year and all started Beaver in sixth grade. The team is coached by Jess Paulin, Gabby Venuto, and Grace Ryan. Although the team is small and has many new players, everyone has a positive attitude works hard in and out of practice.  

On Wednesday, October 10, 2018, the team had an amazing opportunity on the day off of school to practice on Boston Universities Field Hockey Field, which is an astroturf field. Astroturf is a water-based turf which causes the ball to move very fast, making the style of play a lot quicker and more advanced than what the team is used to. At their practice at BU, the team was able to practice passing, shooting, and even scrimmaged on the field! All of the girls on the team loved having the chance to play on a field that they otherwise would not have played on. In fact, only a few high schools in America, and only Division 1 field hockey teams play on Astroturf. After the practice at BU, the girls realized they have the ability to play faster and started to work during normal practice on passing quicker. Since focusing on this, the team was able to beat the Cambridge School of Weston in their game on Monday, October 15. 

Other than their win against CSW, the team beat Marianapolis Preparatory School in Thompson, CT. This was a big game for the girls as it gave them much more confidence than they had before after losing five games in a row. Also, while playing Marianapolis, the team really worked together and played cohesively. Charlotte mentioned that she wants to always “play as a team, not 11 individuals”, as it helps the team have more success in games!

In order to keep spirits up, the team has many fun team bonding activities. The first was a fun picture scavenger hunt in “The Street” in Chestnut Hill. The girls were split up into four teams of four and were given clues to try to win a prize. In the end, each girl on the team that won got a certificate to “Get out of 1 sprint workout”. Obviously, this was a much-wanted prize. Other than the scavenger hunt, the girls have had many team dinners, and also do a tradition called Secret Psych. This is where each girl on the team picks another girls’ name out of a hat and on the day’s certain games, has to give them notes of encouragement, posters, or even candy to psych them up for the game without revealing who they are. At the end of the season, the team will reveal who they had!

The field hockey team hopes to win at least two more games before their final game on Halloween against Montrose.