Fitzpatrick the latest of Stuart’s greatest
By: Bob Nuse
It didn’t take long for Missy Bruvik to tell that Kelly Fitzpatrick had the makings of a very good field hockey player.
"I’ve known Kelly since she was 5 years old when I had the opportunity to be her elementary education teacher," said Bruvik, the head coach at Stuart Country Day School. "You could see from the beginning she was a natural athlete and she’s always had a great sense of where she was on the field. I think the best part has been watching her develop as a player and a leader."
Over the years, Bruvik has had a chance to see Fitzpatrick develop into the latest in a long line of talented players in the Stuart program. As a freshmen, Fitzpatrick had a chance to play with Sarah Driscoll, who now plays at Yale University. She spent two years playing with Hannah Murnen, who is now at Dartmouth, and three years with Tracy Statter, who is now at Penn.
Playing with those players and being part of the great tradition at Stuart have helped Fitzpatrick grow into a fine all-around player.
"Field hockey is a big sport at Stuart," said Fitzpatrick, who hopes to join her former teammates in the Ivy League next year by playing for Cornell. "Mrs. Bruvik was my teacher in kindergarten and she was the field hockey coach, so I had heard about it and been exposed to it for a long time.
"After my freshmen year, Tracy Statter and I started playing for a club team, the Spirit Eagles, so I got a lot of experience playing with some of the best players in the state. We go to national tournaments and play against some of the best players in the country."
That experience helped turn Fitzpatrick into a dominant player. This fall she scored 14 goals and added eight assists as Stuart went 12-3-1 and reached the championship game of the Mercer County Tournament. For her career, Fitzpatrick finished with 39 goals and 43 assists.
Kelly Fitzpatrick is the Princeton Packet Field Hockey Player of the Year.
"She is just an incredible leader," Bruvik said. "In the last four years she’s never missed a day. She was a great captain and team leader. The other kids respect her play and they also respect her as a person.
"Everyone has the ability to give 100 percent effort, but not everyone can get to the level that Kelly has. The way she plays helps the younger players on our team because they see her as a role model by the way she works on every drill. She’s a great leader. She also plays ice hockey and lacrosse, plus she plays field hockey year-round."
Playing all year round was what helped Fitzpatrick take her game to a higher level. She realized that practicing with and playing against the best could only help her game.
"I thought my biggest improvement was between my sophomore and junior year," said Fitzpatrick, a Hopewell resident who has attended Stuart since pre-school. "I felt like I had to be more of a leader and play harder all the time. Hopefully I was able to set a good example and helped make it so everyone would do the best they could do."
While at Stuart, Fitzpatrick was also part of a team that was always in the hunt for a championship. As a freshman she was involved in the state prep final. Last year, she was part of a state championship team for the Tartans.
"When I was in eighth grade was the year that Stuart won the first combined prep championship," Fitzpatrick said. "My freshman year we tried to defend it and we lost in the final. After we won it last year I put a lot of pressure on myself for us to do well.
"I knew it was going to be harder for us without Tracy and we also lost a lot of our defenders. We tried hard with the players we had. We tried out hardest and we always left it all on the field."
Now Fitzpatrick will have to leave it all on another field. With her outstanding career at Stuart now over, she’ll look to make her mark at the college level.
"The saddest part for me will be leaving Mrs. Bruvik," Fitzpatrick said. "I don’t think I’ll ever have a better coach at any level. I’ve known her since I was in pre-school. She’s the reason we’ve been so successful."
Bruvik, who has been around for a long time, knows it also takes players like Fitzpatrick for her program to be as successful as it has been.
"She’s such a great role model for the younger players," Bruvik said. "We’ve been luck to have people like Sarah, Hannah and Tracy in the program. This year we had Kelly. Hopefully the younger players have learned from her and will help to carry on what she has done. I know we’ll miss her."
Having been at Stuart for as long as she has, there is no doubt Kelly Fitzpatrick will be missed on more than just the field hockey field.