F - Field Hockey

Field Hockey: thing, sport

I never would've been involved in field hockey if I'd been a better trumpet player.

I first encountered field hockey while I was in Bangor, Wales in 1999. I was a bit confused reading the literature for University of North Wales, Bangor when it said that their Mens' Hockey team was some sort of champion, since, to Me, as a Minnesotan, Hockey means Ice Hockey. I almost considered bringing my skates with me.

One of the girls that lived in my corridor was a goalie for the Womens' team, and I went and watched a practice (and also went out with the team afterward). I didnt' understand anything about the sport, other than I thought that it was unfair to lefties that you could only hold the stick right handed.

At the beginning of my senior year of college there were a number of talented Freshman trumpet players. This meant that Jazz band actually held audtions, which meant that I, as a not-so great trumpet player, had some free time fall term. At the club fair I saw some people, including my friend Eddie, hitting around with field hockey stuff. Since Carleton's team was student-coached, co-ed, club, I figured I'd give it a shot to fill the time that Jazz Band was no longer taking up.

I wasn't all that good, but it was a lot of fun. We practiced 2-3 times per week, and, every Saturday, played against a club team from the Twin Cities that was a mixture of old and young American, British, Kenyan and Pakistani men and women. Because I wasn't all that athletic, they put me at defense, which I hated, but through a turn of events, I ended up at forward during a game at a tournament in Chicago and got an assist on a goal that gave us our first win in a few years, and then scored and assisted again in the next game. We had a winning record in the tournament for the first time ever. They let me play forward after that.

Field Hockey was also really fun for the social aspects of it. That's all I'll say here. At our team banquet, I ended up getting the "Rookie of the Year" award (though all of our awards were silly. Mine was a cherry made of construction paper, plus something else).

Fast forward a few years to my Maryland life. Field Hockey actually exists out here, and through a series of events, I became the Junior Varsity coach at my school, and I can honestly say it is my most favorite part of being here. Despite a long string of not very succesful seasons, I still get excited every time we take the field.