Play Days

Our five freshman who have greatly benefited from the opportunities the spring provides

By Sarah Fisher

I apologize for my lack of blogging recently, I’m sure you all have been anxiously awaiting an update from me (only joking). The 80 degree weather, lake campus, Bosom Buddies, and, of course, school and field hockey have kept me away from my blogging responsibilities. Spring fever has spread throughout the entire campus, Davidson is a pretty fun place to be at this time of year.

This spring has certainly been an interesting one for DCFH. Early on we had some difficulties on the field, the realization that we have graduated 8 strong senior players hit us pretty hard. With 10 of our 12 players being underclassmen, the emphasis this spring has been on developing our team and improving individual skills. We’ve spent many a drill working on receptions, playing 2-touch hockey, and getting on the right side of our defensive marks.

Finley Amato - the only other upperclassman

Our first play day was at Duke. We got up bright and early on a Saturday to drive on over to Jack Katz Stadium for some friendly competition. We had the opportunity to play great, nonconference teams. We played full field, 25 minute games against UVA, Duke, UNC, Michigan, and William and Mary. To be frank, the day didn’t go so well for us as far as number of wins, but we did learn some valuable lessons. The week after our play day at Duke we each got to go into the office and have individual film sessions with the coaches. While it’s never enjoyable watching yourself make mistakes, it certainly does help to see what we did wrong with our own eyes.

Those film sessions set us up for a great two weeks of practice leading up to our home play day. This day went a whole lot better for us. It felt great to see the changes we have been working so hard on to make, come to fruition and actually help us win. Everyone’s confidence levels were at an all-time high this spring and as individuals we stepped up in order to play better as a team. At this play day, we played to full field 25 minute games and multiple small field, 7 v 7 games. Liberty, Limestone, App State, Radford, and a Charlotte area club team made the trip to us.

While we have a lot to still work on before the fall, we are making progress and I am confident we will get to that point. Daily practice and touches on the ball is what it will take to make us a threat and this spring has set us up to continue this hard work ethic over the summer.

Until Next Time,
Fish