By Falak Jamal
Hammond Bears Field Hockey season was yet again a very impressive season with a record of six wins and seven losses including one tie. Senior Captains Lily Deblasio, Hannah Haber, and Lauren Johnson can all agree field hockey was the best team they could have joined at Hammond. Building skills and friendships was the key part of having a successful season. Not only did they accomplish all their goals, but they had a lot of fun doing it.
According to the captains, the season was great. They accomplished their biggest goal, which was beating Wilde Lake in the playoffs which everyone on the team was thrilled about. Sadly, the seven seniors will be leaving which is heartbreaking to the team overall but gives room for a lot of leadership and growth for the rising juniors and seniors. “I have been playing field hockey since I was in second grade so coming to school with an actual field hockey coach was really exciting for me,” says Captain Lily.
Even though they had more losses than wins, the team only thought about their growth as a group and how to get better. “No one ever complained about being there,” says Junior Ayla Kickhofel. All they wanted to do was enjoy their time on the teams and build friendships. “Even games I didn’t want to play ended up being super fun because of the group of people that were with me,” says Lily Deblasio.
“I like that they are friends before they’re coaches,” says captain Hannah Haber. We all started out as freshmen. The coaches are good people and even better coaches. Even though they didn’t win all the games they had a great time playing them. Their main priority was meeting everyone’s personal goals. Some people were brand new to the sport and others have been playing since they were freshmen. The seniors, who are, sadly, leaving the program but left a great influence on the newer players to build on their skills. Participation is key for strong programs such as field hockey and the seniors encourage people to join every year to keep the program alive and thriving.
As the seniors leave they want the players to remember to learn from their losses and come back even stronger, leaving off with the most memorable team goal of beating Wilde Lake in playoffs. Communication and participation were key to the successful season of Lady Bears.
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