photo credit: Malak Chaboub
In the United States, field hockey is one of the few sports that is largely only open to female players. The high school is a proud supporter of this athletic tradition and is dedicated to making the team a close knit, competitive and victorious community.
This community within the team is a strong underlying factor of this season’s success; With a current season record of 7-2, the team is currently projected to crush a former season win statistic of nine wins in a season. The team also beat Liberty for the first time in school history this season.
“The Liberty win gave us a lot of confidence in ourselves and our teammates. We went out there really wanting to win and with a lot of intensity and in the end, it paid off,” junior Alyssa Alexander, who plays varsity midfield, said.
Not only was this game historical due to the first ever win but also because of some age-old feuding by the coaches. Coaches Olivia Susi and Maddie Pasarella are Liberty High School alumni, increasing the tensions on this game.
“Honestly, it added to the intensity of the game and made the win feel better; Because the coaches knew the history of Orange not beating Liberty, even when they played,” Alexander said.
One reason for this year’s success can be accredited to the lessons learned from last year’s season.
“The season is probably going so well because everyone came back with last season in mind. And we all really wanting to fix the problems we had,” Alexander said.
This season’s success could be attributed to the community built within the team. This community creates a family-like atmosphere for many players.
One of these girls is junior JV defensive player Aaliyah Disweratandai. “Freshman year was my favorite. I really loved team dinners; they’re very fun, and it felt like home,” Disweratandai said.
Diswertandai isn’t the only player who fell in love with this sense of community; junior and JV field player Chloe Beechey shares the comfort in this sisterhood.
“The team is super accepting. You will never get judged, and everyone is helping everyone,” Beechey said.
This sense of community is strongly seen when the team travels for away games, with the implementation of a team tradition called ‘Stick Sisters’.
“‘Stick Sisters’ was always fun. During every away game, people bring gifts, and you get one. You don’t know who it’s from, and that’s super cute,” Disweratandai said.
This is one of the ways the team tries to build connections between grade levels because someone’s ‘Stick Sister’ stays the same throughout the season. Getting little gifts and treats throughout the season is a great way for the girls to hang out and relax while strengthening their friendships (and guessing who their secret gift giver is).
“That was the first time in a long time where a group felt like home like that,” Disweratandai said, while recalling her first year on the team.
Even with little experience playing the sport, it can still be a great experience.
“Being a goalie is also a good position for anyone who doesn’t really play sports but would like to get involved because it’s very easy to get the hang of it,” Beechey said.
Sports can be a great way to grow connections and foster lifelong friendships; Orange’s field hockey is no exception.
“People should join field hockey because it’s really fun and you get to have a connection with some of the people and it is like a sisterhood,” Diswertandai said. .
Field hockey is a place for young girls to thrive, create friendships and grow deeper connections. These girls have truly gone from sticks to sisterhood.