Why I Play

I have played one sport or another for as long as I can remember.  I started playing lacrosse in the 4th grade, started swimming when I was about 8, and started playing field hockey in middle school.  In high school I played all three seasons: field hockey in the fall, swimming in the winter, and lacrosse in the spring.  Senior year, our field hockey team finished first in the league and first in the state.  Our lacrosse team finished first in the nation, on top of winning our league and state division for the fourth year running.  As cliche as it sounds, when I think back to the years I spent playing on these teams I barely think about the games we won or the titles we earned.  My most fond memories from playing on those teams are not of the games, or even really of the sport, but of the time I spent with my teammates.  

 
Senior year of high school I was on the varsity lacrosse team and I didn’t start in a single game all season.  I spent much of that spring questioning why I was on the team to begin with if I was unable to contribute on the field.  On our senior day, after yet another game in which I hardly got to play, the juniors and sophomores on the team made posters for us and we all said our first round of ‘graduation goodbyes’.  I was upset about not playing, and ready to go home as soon as possible.  As I was getting ready to leave after the brief senior recognition, one of the two sophomores on our team came up to me and gave me a hug.  As she was hugging me, she started crying.  In a very surprising turn of events, I did too.  In this moment my role on the team became clear to me, and I realized then that although I wasn’t a starter like most of my senior friends I played just as important of a role in the eyes of me teammates. This sophomore bringing me, and herself, to tears helped me to realize I wasn’t there for stats, to score goals, or to win games- I was there for her.  I was there because I could be, because I wanted to be, and because my teammates wanted me to be.  The knowledge that my being on the team had made such a difference in this one girl’s experience truly touched me and remains with me to this day.  

During the fall of my second year at UVa I accepted the position of Head Field Hockey Coach at the Covenant School in Charlottesville.  This opportunity completely fell into my lap, and to be honest I was reluctant to accept- being only 19 years old at the time, only a year or so older than the seniors on the team.  Looking back after two incredible fall seasons coaching at Covenant, I am incredibly glad that I accepted the opportunity.  I have played on some amazing teams, but I have never encountered a group of girls as special as these.  I love every single day I get to step out onto the field with those girls. They aren’t just the team I coach in the afternoons, or a group of high school girls, these girls are genuinely my friends and my family here in Charlottesville.   They are not only outstanding athletes but they are incredible people and friends to each other and to me, and I am thankful to be a part of their family every single day.  Girls like these are why I played, why I continue to play, and why I coach.