This week we at the Titan Times decided to catch up with our school’s resident field hockey team, as the season is coming to a close. I had the chance to catch up with some of the team’s members and their coaches. Here’s what they had to say during the hustle period, and on their achievements throughout the season.

For Kelcey Whipp, who has been playing on the team for 3 years, she loves “getting to be around [her] friends” at practice. One of those friends would be another 3 year member Angela Fortuno. Her favorite memories of the season are “jamming on the bus rides” to the games, and beating Middletown. Jessie Pham has also had a great experience in her 2 years on the THS field hockey team. She loves “seeing how far her body can be pushed”. 3rd year player Cherie Johnson loves when she can score a goal, and Morgan Leecost is thankful for all the connections she’s made with her fellow teammates in the 2 years she’s been playing. All of these lovely ladies agree that they’ve yet to regret choosing this sport because the overall experience has been great and has significantly improved their field hockey playing capacity.

I also managed to get in touch with the Varsity Coach Julie Lunn and the Junior Varsity Coach Tom Yocklin and get their thoughts. Coach Lunn has been coaching field hockey for 18 years, and this is her 10th year coaching for THS. She decided to become a field hockey coach because she played in college and she loves the sport. Her favorite part of coaching field hockey is “the improvement that the players make throughout the season”. Coach Yocklin has been coaching field hockey for 3 years, and “all three years have been at Tuscarora High School”. He joined at Coach Lunn’s request, and because she “makes it look easy” but he’d like to clarify it’s not, she “is just that good”. His favorite part of coaching is watching the girls “using the skills they learned in practice” and eventually when they get so good that they beat him at practice.

Many great memories were made during the season, but one of the fondest and most memorable out of all them came from Coach Yocklin’s perspective. It consisted of “Winning a shootout game in overtime. Each team sends one player to go one-on-one against the goalie. After the 3rd round we were tied. Then [his] 4th player Hailey Barth (a senior this year) beat the goalie with a fast dodge left and drove the ball into the net.”
It’s memories like that which in turn make all the hard work worth it. It’s important that we never underestimate the power of a great team playing a fun sport.