MassLive.com Feature
WMass field hockey tournaments impress Mount Holyoke players
written by: Kyle Belanger | photo by: Dave Roback/The Republican
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Nov. 12, 2009) – You spend enough time chatting to strangers, and you’re bound to learn a thing or two.
While I don’t recommend that you try this exercise at bus stations or in places where the jukebox’s most recent songs are by Judas Priest and Lynard Skynard (no offense meant to Misters Priest or Skynard, of course), chattiness can actually be a virtue.
Take, for example, my trips to Mount Holyoke College this week, where I was covering the WMass field hockey tournament semifinals. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been covering field hockey for nearly a decade, so I feel like I’m able to hold my own in most field hockey conversations.
That said, it didn’t take long for me to realize that the ball girls working the WMass tourney games weren’t the usual bunch. These were bona fide Mount Holyoke field hockey players.
As a result, I began to pick their brains – some, I’m sure, to the point of annoyance. But what I learned ranged from the game’s basic techniques to just plain interesting factoids.
Here are a few of the nuggets I picked up from the Lyons-turned-ball women.
1. In addition to being a force of nature, the Smith Academy field hockey team is also one fundamentally-sound machine.
According to Mt. Holyoke’s Missy Hartley, one of the most impressive parts about the Falcons' game is the way that they approach the ball – low and square, unafraid of impending contact. This was in stark contrast to some of the other teams, who led with their hips in anticipation of being hit.
2. Hartley also noticed a difference in the on-field chatter between the D-I games and D-II games.
While she was quick to note that teams who don’t talk to one another often have a difficult time performing, she couldn’t help adding, “that’s what makes how good Smith Academy is playing is so impressive - they aren’t talking very much, and they're still playing amazingly.”
At the time, Smith was up 4-0 on its way to an 8-2 win over Athol.
3. While the speed of the game might be slower at the high school level than it is collegiately, Lyons sophomore Annie Butts was most impressed by the intensity of the teams on the field.
I even tried to get her to comment on a few swings and misses that came into play down the stretch of the tight game between Westfield and Agawam. She wouldn’t budge.
“No way. These girls’ intensity is what I’m focusing on.”
Which is, I suppose, what I’m getting at: The fact that, although field hockey is widely put into that “niche sport” category, we’re actually quite lucky around these parts to have field hockey that is played at such a high level.
According to Hartley, who hails from Colorado, this is a place where field hockey truly matters.
I couldn’t agree more.