By Andrew Martins, Managing Editor
A group of impassioned sixth graders and their parents recently made their plea for the reinstatement of a seventh grade field hockey coach position before the Hillsborough Township Board of Education begins formally drawing up its 2017-18 budget.
During the Dec. 12 meeting, about a dozen pre-teen girls stood in solidarity over their cause during the public comment portion, calling for the establishment of a dedicated field hockey team for seventh graders.
Hillsborough Middle School has just one field hockey team, coached by Nicole Holyoak, which plays in the fall. At one time there had been more field hockey coaches, but they were moved up to the high school, leaving a vacancy at the seventh grade level.
If girls from both seventh and eighth grade have to compete for limited space on the team, some of the sixth graders said they would be left with nowhere to play.
“We believe that there should be two teams – one for each grade,” Ms. Kristin Caruso, a sixth grader at Auten Road Intermediate School said. “We don’t think that seventh graders should have to go up against more experienced and skilled eighth graders.”
Many girls repeated that particular refrain, citing potentially detrimental effects that a year without field hockey could bring.
“We have been through thick and thin together. Some of us came ot the team not even knowing how to hold a stick properly,” Kylie Marley, a sixth grader at Auten Road Intermediate School, said. “Because of our hard work and dedication to field hockey and one another…I honestly can’t imagine a world without my team next year.”
Though the team did not win any regular season games this year, the sixth grade field hockey team managed to do well in a recent round robin-style tournament, winning three out of four games.
Jennifer Dima, whose daughters play the sport, said the team has shown significant signs of improving. If there is a gap in play for many of the girls, she said, that would cause a lot of the youths’ successes to regress.
“We want to build this program from the ground up,” she said. “In addition, I believe that by adding this position, we are improving the quality of our eighth grade team and our high school team, which will allow us to compete with our neighboring opponents.”
As a mother, Ms. Dima said her elder daughter, who got to play in seventh and eighth grades, benefitted a great deal from the Hillsborough field hockey program when it was in full effect.
“I was lucky to see my daughter play field hockey in the seventh and eighth grade and not only did her field hockey skills improve, so did her confidence,” she said. “The opportunity for (the girls) to play in the seventh grade gives them the continuity in this sport that our town needs.”
After learning that they would not have a team to play on as seventh graders, but rather have an opportunity to try out against the older eighth graders, some players worried for their chances of making the team,
“I want to make the middle school team, but I worried that I wouldn’t make it because of the more experienced girls,” Lindsay Kowalski, a sixth grade student, said. “By adding a seventh grade team, me and my teammates and keep enjoying field hockey.”
To further drive the importance of a seventh grade team home, current eighth graders Heather Suraci and Olivia Helverson shared their experiences as players and coaches.
“Two coaches would benefit the incoming seventh graders to be motivated to continue field hockey,” Heather said. “We would love to see these girls’ skills grow as they continue their field hockey career.”
“Seventh grade and eighth grade field hockey is just so different,” Ms. Helverson said.
Looking forward, Christy Freeman, said the township’s field hockey program still has a lot of promise. With continued support for all grade levels, she said she believes things could only continue to improve.
“The girls not only learned to love the game and learned how to work together,” she said. “I’d hate to see these girls go to private programs and excel there and then lose interest in the sports here in town. It’s only a benefit for us to keep growing and keep kids in school. It’s just all positive.”
