Cornell Players Recap Coaching at CUFH Summer Camp.

Co-written by Ann DiPastina and Katherine Stone.

Coaching at camp this year was a great opportunity.  The transition from player to coach was probably the weirdest part.  We were so used to playing throughout the summer that it felt strange to be the ones in charge.  We were no longer the ones playing, but were instead giving other kids the chance to play and have fun.  At first the thought of keeping track of a group of girls seemed daunting, but after a while coaching them came naturally.  Our first day was a little chaotic— it started with a coaches meeting where we were introduced to our new assistant coach, Gavin Featherstone, who we were all anxious to meet.  We immediately jumped into the full swing of check-in where girls swarmed into RPCC ready to start camp.  Among them were our incoming freshmen, who we quickly swarmed and bombarded with greetings.  After everybody got settled into the dorms, we were finally ready to go.  Groups were assigned to coaches and we were off to the field. 

The whole camp flew by, but there were a few moments that stood out.  One drill that we did involved practicing penalty strokes.  Gavin gave the girls an incentive by making a target in the top left corner of the goal, daring the girls to make the shot with a dollar as a reward.  Unfortunately for him, two campers were up for the challenge, leaving him two dollars poorer.  Later in the week, the forecast predicted thunder storms and rain— lots of rain.  It was unlikely that we would be going outside, so there were two options: play in the Ramin Room or watch a movie.  Naturally, many of the younger girls opted for the movie and a chance to get off their feet.  It was their lucky day... or so they thought.  It turned out that there was no rain and we would proceed with the normal schedule.  Finally, camp ended with the traditional skit competition.  One that left the whole camp laughing was Hibler's group performing the American national anthem in honor of our new assistant coach.  Some of the other skits included renditions of Carly Rae Jepsen's “Call Me Maybe”, Justin Bieber's “Boyfriend”, and a creative skit by the goalies inspired by Twitter called #goalieproblems.

All in all, we had a great time.  It was nice to see and work with our fellow teammates Alaina Skalski, Christine Hibler, Jaime Trout, Kat DiPastina, and our graduated senior Olivia Boyd, who we will miss in this upcoming season.  Also, we had the opportunity to meet and work with a senior on Ohio University's field hockey team, Laura Mastro, who blended so well with us that she felt like part of our team.  We're all excited for this fall season, and we can't wait until camp next summer! 

           

Left to Right: Ann DiPastina (so.), Olivia Boyd '11, Alaina Skalski (so.), Jaime Trout (so.), Christine Hibler (jr.), Taylor Standiford (fr.), Katherine Stone(so.), Katie Garrity (fr), Kat DiPastina (sr.), and Laura Mastro (Ohio University sr.)

Go USA Field Hockey!! London Olympics

GO USA Field Hockey!!!

The Olympics have been dominating my life for the past week and so far I have managed to watch beach volleyball, fencing, judo, gymnastics, handball, cycling, tennis, water polo, equestrian, shooting, archery, swimming, diving, indoor volleyball, soccer, rowing, wrestling, weightlifting, table tennis, and some of the running preliminaries, but by far my favorite has been watching USA FIELD HOCKEY!

To set the stage I think it’s worth mentioning that field hockey venue is located right next to the swimming venue making it in the middle of all the action. The other unique thing about the field hockey venue is that they are playing on a blue turf field with PINK sidelines. It looks awesome!! The Olympic organizers decided that the blue turf makes it easier for the viewers to see the ball and watching at home I didn’t have any problems seeing the ball.

The way the Olympic field hockey tournament works is that the teams are split into 2 groups of 6 with the top 2 from each group advancing to compete for the medals. Team USA is joined by Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa in Group B. Team USA started off the tournament against a strong German team. We looked a little jittery in the first half and gave up a couple of goals. The first goal was on a penalty corner with the German player unleashing a crazy drag flick from the top of the circle. The second goal for German came on a numbers up situation and was a beautiful reverse chip shot into the upper right corner of the goal. Team USA really picked up the pace coming out of halftime. They looked much more calm and were doing a great job keeping possession and being patient on defense. Their hard work was rewarded with a goal on a penalty corner making it a one-goal game. Team USA really put pressure on the German team until the end of the game including pulling the goalie and putting in a kicking back to generate more attack. Unfortunately we came up short losing to Germany 2-1, but I think they were really able to work out the kinks in preparation for the Argentina game.

The USA vs. Argentina game is a rematch of the 2011 Pan American field hockey championship game where the USA upset the number one ranked Argentine team to earn an Olympic berth. Since then, the Argentina team has dropped in rankings to number 2 in the world and I’m sure they were out for revenge. The USA team really picked off where they left off in the Germany game and looked confident. They were generating great attack and working hard to keep Argentina’s attack under control. Finally towards the end of the first half, Team USA got a goal on a beautiful diving tip on a cross into the circle. Even though we had the lead, Team USA never settled and kept attacking for the rest of the game. The defense also really buckled down and Team USA walked away another upset victory against Argentina.

Watching these awesome field hockey games has really made me want to pick up my stick and play! Team USA is off to a strong start and I can’t wait to watch them in their remaining games!!!

GO TEAM USA!!