The club field hockey team traveled to the United States Field Hockey National Training Center in Virginia Beach earlier this month. Photo Courtesy of: @uri_fieldhockey on Instagram
The University of Rhode Island’s Club Field Hockey team is used to traveling long distances for games. The club has not played at home this season, but they have traveled to schools such as the University of Vermont and UMass Lowell.
However, two weeks ago the team took their longest trip of the season, a long bus ride south to Virginia Beach. The team competed in the National Field Hockey League Spring Tournament on April 15, which was hosted at the United States Field Hockey National Training Center.
This experience allowed the team to play teams that they normally would not face. Instead of their traditional New England opponents, the club faced Towson, Stony Brook, Georgetown and the University of Pittsburgh.
Second-year Lindsey Reimels recognized the importance of the tournament for the team.
“[Playing] was great because we got to play teams we wouldn’t get to play during our normal season,” Reimels said. “So it was just great field hockey all around and an awesome experience.”
The important part to notice about this club is that they are entirely student run. They are run by their E-Board and their captains, all of which hope to put the best product out on the field every game of every season.
That E-Board was responsible for planning the entire trip. Buses, hotels and more came from the leadership headed by president and captain, fourth-year Meghan Lance. Lance reflected back on the planning process, and felt relieved after the fact that the trip went as planned.
“It was pretty cool because I had to do it with the other captains, we had to plan the whole thing,” Lance said. “Obviously the club sports are student run so it was nice to see it actually work out and have us be able to play down there.”
Lance also acknowledged that the trip expanded beyond field hockey. Staying with your teammates is tremendous for team bonding and she had a few things planned for that as well.
“We did a team dinner, which was nice, and some of us went and jumped in the ocean which was cute since we were in Virginia Beach,” Lance said. “I thought it was nice to bond with everyone.”
The tournament also allowed for the players to hone in their skills on the field, both during play and preparation before. Third-year captain Ava Amato recognized that improvement was noticeable inside the organization.
“I definitely think on the field we are coming together as a group,” Amato said. “You can definitely see a big improvement, especially from last semester and during the season. Off the field we do a lot of team bonding, team dinners and stuff and I think that definitely helps when we step on the field.”
The team finished 1-2-1 after four games in a single day, collecting a win over Stony Brook and a tie with Towson. The team was very pleased with their performance, and Amato was even happier with their preparation.
“I think we had some really good practices, we practiced only twice a week because that’s when we were able to get the turf,” Amato said. “[However], I think just a few times during the week it really prepared us for the tournament because we had about four games in one day. So definitely the preparation early in the semester definitely helped.”
In terms of sheer involvement with the team, Amato is greatly appreciative of what being a part of the team has done for her in her time at URI.
“It definitely has been a great experience for me and I wouldn’t trade it in for the world,” Amato said. “It’s an amazing group of girls that I felt very lucky and I was very excited to be a captain and lead the team to where we are right now.”
Reimels, who still has two more years of playing ahead of her, is also grateful for her time on the team.
“[Playing has] been a great relief of stress from being at the university,” Reimels said. “Me and my teammates just all love field hockey, so having that as an outlet and also just making friends it’s been really awesome”.
On top of her gratitude for the team, Reimels is also very optimistic about the organization’s future.
“I’m excited,” Reimels said. “I think we have a great E-board coming up next season and I think they’re going to do a really great job in just focusing and getting enough effective practice in, that we can so hopefully we will perform well in our fall and spring seasons.”
The Rhode Island Club Field Hockey team has hung up their cleats for the season, but all the players are excited to get back onto the field in the fall. Second-year Madison Martins, second-year Abby Giansiracusa, second-year Chloe Blanchette and second-year Keely McQue will take over as captains for the 2023 fall season, and they hope to take the team to new heights with even more tournaments.