Alison Hersey Risch '59 - Field Hockey/Lacrosse

(Presented by Stephanie Hersey Kolman '62)

Hersey Risch began playing field hockey during a post-graduate high school year at the Northampton School for Girls, where she played one year with Hampshire Association Field  Hockey. In that short time, she made the Northeast Team and National Tournament. Over the next five years, Hersey Risch continued to play with Hampshire Field Hockey as it brought her exposure to a high level of coaching and game play. When she entered MHC in 1955, field hockey was offered as a club sport. A year later, Hersey Risch represented the United States Field Hockey Association touring team to South Africa and Rhodesia. In 1959, she took a leave of absence from the second semester of her senior year at Mount Holyoke to once again represent the USFHA on the touring team to the International Conference in Amsterdam. Following graduation at MHC, Hersey Risch earned a master’s degree from Tufts and was introduced to the sport of lacrosse.  A standout player on the U.S. women's lacrosse teams from 1961 to 1970, she served as the team captain from 1964 on and played on touring teams that visited Australia, Great Britain, and Ireland. Hersey Risch, who is a member of both the U.S. Field Hockey (member of the initial induction class) and the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame, is currently an internationally-rated umpire who has been officiating for 41 years and and is still active at the NCAA Division III level. CLICK TO VIEW THE OFFICAL RELEASE.