In the tenth year of the school,
Stone Bridge (Ashburn, Va.) is finally going to have field hockey. Not as a team, but as a club.
“We wanted to introduce the sport into the school because there is nothing like this in Loudoun County,” senior Nisha Arora said.
Since the process of getting a team set up in a school system is not easy, founders, senior Tess Ferguson and Arora, decided to lessen the gap by starting the club.
“Our goal is to grow interest for the sport and potentially create an environment for a possible team to compete against other schools in the district in the future,” Ferguson said.
Since the club is open to students of all levels of playing experience, there are varied reasons why they want to play. Some want to get more experience playing the game, while others just want to stay active.
“I'm looking for a chance to gain new skills, but I also am looking forward to getting out and exercising,” senior
Elizabeth Duckworth said. “At the same time, I want to have fun.”
As a result, there will be many students who have never played the sport before. However, the founders don’t see this as a problem.
“The response has been good, especially by underclassmen,” Arora said. “That’s nice because it helps lay the foundation for a team next year, even after we’re gone.”
One of those girls is sophomore Kendra Austin, who has been playing field hockey with the Loudoun Field Hockey Association (LFHA) and other off-season leagues for many years.
“I was so excited to hear about the start of a field hockey club at Stone Bridge because the game is so fun,” Austin said. “I think it's an incredibly easy sport to pick up and with hard work, is decently easy to be good at. I have a feeling that the field hockey club at Stone Bridge will become extremely popular, especially since it's going to be co-ed.”
Even high schools that do offer field hockey only have the sport for girls, but Ferguson hopes that one day boys will get to play as well.
“The club, as of now, is open to both girls and guys, which is very unique’” Ferguson said. “I would love it if guys would see the opportunity before them to possibly start a league of their own eventually by using this club as their start.”
Playing with boys is something that even long time players will experience for the first time.
“I think it’s going to be entertaining because the games will probably be a lot more violent,” senior Daniela
Nianduillet said. “I think I’ll enjoy that.”
However, not everyone is convinced that the club will work out as well as the founders are hoping.
“I hope the club succeeds, but I’m worried that disorganization would get the better of the club, and that playing would be more work than fun,” senior Katherine Voelker said.
Another concern is that the players won’t be committed to the club because it is not an “official” Stone Bridge sport.
“I think that the club could be very successful, but it truly depends on the level of commitment the players, coaches, and sponsors have.” Voelker said. “If people just assume that it's okay to not take this seriously, the teams will get nowhere.”
One of the leagues in competition with the club is LFHA because it has been around since 2006 and in the past has featured quite a few Stone Bridge students on its rosters. However Voelker feels that there is a difference on playing on a recreational league.
“Playing on a rec team insures that people will come to practice at designated times and will take responsibility to improve,” Voelker said. “When a club team as large as the one being created at Stone Bridge gets together, I worry that instructional time will be cut short because of trying to teach such varied skill levels.”
Regardless, many newcomers, such as Duckworth, hope that the good outweighs the bad and that the club gets off to a good start.
“I think it'll definitely be a fun experience in learning a new sport, but I know I'll have to work hard if I want to help my team win games,” Duckworth said.
The plan was for the club to get started in early January but the snows days caused some problems and the date was pushed back a few times. However, students have signed up, and the goal is to start on March 22.
According to Ferguson, the club will function as an intramural league in which teams of 7-10 people play against each other. There will be a five week season and out of the teams formed, the top half will make the playoffs. The goal is to have weekly practices after school from 4:30-5:30, and games on Saturday mornings at 9, 10:30, and 11.
The teams will be self-run with players that want to be captains. They will run practices and games, as well as playing themselves.
“The captains will be the best players on the teams, and the girls who have been playing for a couple of seasons,” Arora said. “Hopefully with their help the people who have never played before can improve, and the underclassmen can look forward to playing again next year.”
No matter what a person’s reason to play, the bottom line is to learn the game and to ultimately just have fun.
“I would love for field hockey to become a "big deal" like other sports teams so that eventually, somewhere down the road, Stone Bridge and other high schools in Loudoun County will be able to offer field hockey to heir students,” Ferguson said.
