D.C.F.H. Goes North

By Courtney Tobe

About a week and a half ago the Davidson Field Hockey team set off on the whirlwind adventure that is a D.C.F.H. fall break.

This year we crossed the Mason-Dixon line and traveled all the way up North to Providence, Rhode Island for three games of competition. With senior forward and co-captain Jennie Mostellar on our team, the trip became an adventure as soon as we made it to the Charlotte airport. Although she has flown many times, Jennie has an intense fear of flying. From the moment we set foot in the Charlotte airport, Jennie was a nervous wreck, but thanks to her teammates distraction techniques Jennie made it through the flight and our plane safely landed in Providence.

Given the conservative nature of our budget, the hotels that we stay in for our away trips are more typically along the lines of a Holiday Inn rather than the Ritz Carlton, but this trip we lucked out! As we pulled up to The Biltmore Providence and saw the Chandeliers that hung from the ceiling in the lobby we all thought that the vans had taken us to the wrong place. Ginny assured us that we were, in fact, at the right hotel and that it was not a trick, but when we saw the rooms we still couldn’t believe we were staying there. There were two king sized beds, a sitting room, a walk-in closet, and most importantly a plasma flat-screen T.V. We enjoyed three nights in this luxurious hotel, and it was the perfect resting place to prepare for the big weekend of games ahead of us.

We played three games in Providence and walked away from the weekend 1 and 2. We had a great win against Brown on Saturday and nearly everyone off the bench got a chance to play, which was really exciting to see. We also had several Davidson students, parents, and alums make the trip to Brown to watch us play on Friday and Monday. Paul and Jan Willis, parents of D.C.F.H. ’08 alum Jen Willis, drove three hours just to come to our Saturday game against Brown, and Mrs. Willis brought with her a batch of her famous chocolate caramel brownies (a treat that the seniors enjoyed at every tailgate our freshmen year and have missed them dearly ever since).

Although we didn’t come out with as many wins as we would have liked, the trip was a great team bonding experience and a nice chance to get off of campus for a bit. When we got back from the trip, we went straight back to work because we had a huge game against VCU on Saturday. We put up a hard fight, but unfortunately couldn’t pull out a win and moved our record to 10-5.

Losing is never fun, but we are coming up to the part of the season that truly counts, conference play. We only have four regular season games left and they are all conference games. We start with two away games, one against Appalachian State this Thursday, and another one against Longwood this Saturday. We are extremely excited to take on these teams and try to hold on to our lead in the East division of the NorPac, but we know that they are going to be extremely tough. Both teams are going to be out to get us, but we are ready to do whatever it takes to win.

Keep following along for more behind the scenes action with D.C.F.H. Go Cats! –Tobe #7

Mediocrity, McKillop, and Midterms

By Courtney Tobe


Being a Davidson student athlete is always hard work, but some weeks are worse than others. This past week the entire Davidson Field Hockey team has been struggling with an amount of work that requires more time than there are hours in a day, making midterms week one of those more challenging weeks. Stress levels rise, sleep becomes compromised, and the last thing you feel you have time for is practice, but out of commitment to your team you go anyways.

Commitment is a core value of D.C.F.H. and this past Friday Davidson Basketball Coach Bob McKillop came to talk to us about the important role that commitment plays in building a successful team. He emphasized how Davidson students continually wage war on mediocrity in the classroom and on the field and stressed how important it is to hold ourselves and our teammates accountable of accepting nothing less than the best at every practice and in every game.

Coach McKillop’s words definitely struck a chord with our team in our game against NorPac rival Longwood. We had a slow start and at halftime found ourselves down 2 to 1. Longwood’s lead increased to 4 to 2 early on in the second half, but after Longwood scored their fourth goal something clicked in all of our heads. We knew that we were settling. We knew we could play better, and rather than letting the score keep us down we decided to rage war on mediocrity and put 5 goals in the cage in the second half alone to win the game 6 to 4.

Our never give up attitude is a classic example of what makes this D.C.F.H. team standout. Coach McKillop challenged us to make history and we are well on our way to doing it. With midterms over and Fall Break finally here, we hope to catch up on some much needed sleep and continue our winning streak with a trip to Providence, R.I. where we will face Brown, Maine, and Sacred Heart. Three games in four days will be challenging, but we are excited to face some new opponents and to spend some time together as a team outside of Davidson. Keep following along for more behind the scenes action with D.C.F.H. Happy Fall Break and Go Cats! –Tobe #7

Team Together

By Courtney Tobe

Every season has a defining moment, one that challenges everything that you’ve worked for and changes the course of the season, but this past weekend was one for the record books.

Maybe it was junior forward Christine Rua’s goal with only one second left on the clock, or Sarah Fisher’s save in penalty strokes against Georgetown, or maybe even the intensity felt from the DCFH sidelines, the weekend was filled with so many memorable moments to point to just one would be impossible. The whole weekend was a defining moment, and people noticed. The team has received several texts, e-mails, and facebook messages from various members of the DCFH community, all expressing their excitement for our team.

Although to know that we’ve got people talking is a great feeling, I don’t think anyone is more excited than the team ourselves. One of the most noticeable things about this DCFH team is that first and foremost we are a TEAM. We are not defined by a superstar, but rather we are a group of 23 individuals with different strengths and weaknesses that fit perfectly together to form who we are. Our desire to see our teammates thrive on and off the field has taken first priority this season and is the reason our team has been so successful thus far. We keep improving because we keep challenging each other and demanding more from each other in practice, and the intensity is going to have to be taken up a notch once again as our season continues. With a record of 8-2, teams are going to have it out for us. We are a target and we are going to have to work extremely hard to not allow any let-downs.

This Saturday, our conference game against Longwood will be a huge test for us. We hope to have several fans out on Saturday because not only is it a huge game for us, but it is also our STICK IT TO CANCER promotional game. Please come out and show your support for the Davidson Field Hockey team and cancer awareness. Keep following along for more behind the scenes action with DCFH. Go Cats! – Tobe #7

A Return to The Glory Days . . .

By Courtney Tobe

Belk Turf Field. There is no place like home!

The Davidson Field Hockey team met up with an old friend again this past week, grass.

A surface that most of us haven’t played on since our high school glory days came back into the picture this past Wednesday evening as we traveled to Radford, Virginia for our first conference game of the season. In order to prepare for this match-up we abandoned our extremely nice and extremely fast turf for two days of practice on the grassy knoll behind Baker. Although the change of scenery was nice, it only took a couple of hits and missed stops before we were begging to go back to the turf and wondering how on earth we ever played on such an awful surface.

Playing on grass is a completely different game. The skills and strategy that we practice on turf is often ineffective on grass because it is a much slower paced game that is much more unpredictable. You never know when a perfectly hit ball is going to hit a ditch and pop over your stick, or a ball that looks like it might be going out of bounds decides to stop right on the end line, or even worse, when you are dribbling the ball and it just decides to stop instead of staying on your stick like it’s supposed to.

Despite two extremely frustrating days of practice, our hard work paid off when we beat Radford 1-0 on their home field. The trip to Radford has normally been a struggle for us as we couldn’t get past the frustrating surface to carry home a win, but this year it was different. We hope to carry the excitement of our win into this weekend as we return to the turf (thank goodness!) to face Richmond and Georgetown. Both of these games will be great matchups as we look to extend our record to 8-2. Keep following along for more behind the scenes D.C.F.H. action. Go Cats! –Tobe #7.

Battle Wounds

By Courtney Tobe

A broken nose, a busted lip, a bruised chin, and scarring turf burn were just a few of the products of two intensely fought games this past weekend at William and Mary. It is part of the DCFH culture to take pride in our battle wounds. We don’t typically mind a decent bruise from a tough practice or a black eye from an intense game because it illustrates a dedication to our sport and a sense of fight. Junior defender Steph Meador is a prime example of someone who loves the fight. In our practice at William and Mary on Saturday, Steph took a ball to the face while defending a penalty corner. The result was a broken nose and two very swollen black eyes, but the pain didn’t stop Steph from playing in our game on Sunday. She played the whole game - start to finish - without even wearing a mask.

Sophomore midfielder Annie Evans also had her fair share of battle wounds this past weekend. In our game against William and Mary on Friday Annie got hit in the mouth with a ball and developed a very swollen lip, so swollen in fact that assistant coach Catherine Somits decided to give it a name because it appeared to be taking on a life of its own. “Toni,” as her lip came to be called, lasted for a few days and has now developed into a nice bruise.

Our accumulation of battle wounds was not the only adventure we had in William and Mary. On Saturday, we had plenty of time to explore colonial Williamsburg. Several DCFH members toured the colonial shops, chatted with colonists, and took their pictures in the stacks. We also had a nice lunch at The Cheese Shop, one of Ginny’s favorite restaurants at her alma mater.



Even though this past weekend brought us our first loss it was still very successful. We learned a lot from our game against William and Mary and we finished out the weekend with a win against Penn. We hope to take what we’ve learned from this past weekend and apply them in our game against #7 Wake Forest on Friday. The game is home at 6 p.m. We have an extremely good chance against them this year so please come out and show your support! Keep following along for more behind the scenes D.C.F.H. moments! Go Cats! – Tobe #7

Commitment, Opportunity, Heart

By Courtney Tobe

The tears in senior Clare Perry’s eyes said enough after we defeated Lafayette 3 to 0 this past Sunday.  Two weekends into our season and still undefeated, something that Clare and I and the rest of this year’s senior class has never experienced before.  In our four years of Davidson hockey we have been through some difficult seasons.  Seasons full of tough losses and great successes, but we have never experienced anything like this, 4-0.  If I’ve learned one thing from DCFH, it’s that winning isn’t everything, but our recent success has brought a new sense of confidence to our team that didn’t exist before.  We finally believe in ourselves and are realizing what we are capable of, and we won’t let anything stop us from reaching our potential.

This past summer, Ginny and Catherine came up with three core values for our program to focus on: Commitment, Opportunity, and Heart.  The goal being that these three words will embody the spirit of D.C.F.H. and reflect the attitude of our program.  Wednesday evening, Sandy Helfgott, Davidson’s Director of Physical Education and Recreation, came to talk to us about the importance of maintaining these three core values and living them out throughout the course of our season.  Sandy’s speech was extremely motivational and a good thing to hear leading up to our weekend at William and Mary.  We are in a good place right now, especially after receiving 4 votes for the top 20, but we need to make sure that we don’t let up and this weekend will be a good test for us.

Keep following along for more behind the scenes D.C.F.H. moments! Go Cats! – Tobe #7

D.C.F.H. Season Underway

By Courtney Tobe

As I took to the field for our first game of our 2010 season this past weekend I could not help thinking about preseason. The 9 days of intensive conditioning, three a day practices (yes that’s right … 3 a days), sweltering temperatures on the turf, cold whirl pools, and a soreness that can’t fully be comprehended unless you have experienced it. Everyday tasks like getting out of bed, getting dressed, and even sleeping all felt impossible, and yet even while our bodies were in such intense pain, we somehow found a way to make it back out to the field for the next session. Our fans didn’t see the hard work that we put in during camp and neither did our opponents, but together we worked, struggled, and survived all to make it to this moment, when the referee blows the whistle and our season begins.

My name is Courtney Tobe, and I am a senior from Louisville, Kentucky, on Davidson College’s field hockey team. I have officially survived four D.C.F.H. preseason’s (something I never thought I would be able to say), and I have never felt as proud of the work that we put in during preseason as I do right now because we had an amazing opening weekend.

The weekend started out with a seven and a half hour long bus ride to our nation’s capital. Seven and a half hours is a long time to be on a bus, but we managed to pass the time pretty easily with an impromptu J.Lo movie marathon, good conversation, and a lot of snacks. Although there were moments when the bus ride felt like it would never end, the trip was definitely worth it. We brought home two wins, a 5-0 win against Bryant on Friday and a 5-0 win against St. Francis on Saturday, and we had an amazing crowd turn out for the games.

One of the great things about D.C.F.H. is the amount of support we get from our fans. We had several parents make the trip to D.C. and two D.C.F.H. ’09 alums, Sara Stevens, and Tyler Kirkland came out to show their support. To top things off, Darrel Young, a RB/LB for the Washington Redskins made an appearance at American University to watch our games and cheer for the Davidson Wildcats (all of the Davidson Dad’s were extremely excited about this one). The weekend was a great way to kick off our season and has really inspired us to work hard this week in practice.

We have a lot of potential as a team and a lot of goals that we have set for ourselves this season. The next step we have to take toward reaching them comes this weekend with two games. We open up at home on Saturday against Towson at 12 p.m., and play Lafayette at Wake Forest on Sunday. These are two really good match-ups for us and we can’t wait to hopefully add two more W’s to our record.

Throughout our season, I’ll be checking back in with game updates, funny stories, player interviews, and much more. Keep following along for more behind the scenes D.C.F.H. moments and please come out and show your support on Saturday! Go Cats! – Tobe #7

Back in Davidson

By Yannick Pilgrim

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Back at Davidson. My plane touched down in Charlotte around 2:00 am on Friday the 7th. Even though I was coming back to the familiar, I was nervous. Maybe it was because I was excited to see my friends, teammates and other Davidson randoms who brighten my day, or maybe it was because a wonderful semester abroad had finally come to an end. Costa Rica had really become a home to me and leaving beautiful Central America was almost as hard as leaving my beloved Trinidad on my first trip to the US.

My last day in Costa Rica was an emotional one. My host family had problems of their own but still managed to keep it together in order to give me a very special dinner and farewell. Their kindness and unselfish ways were part of the reason I really enjoyed my time in Costa Rica. Not only did this family open their house to me but they let me into their home. From babysitting my host brothers to occasionally cooking dinner, I always felt like I was actually a member of their family. They introduced me to nearly all of their relatives and went above and beyond in terms of hospitality. If I had to suggest one thing to someone going abroad it would be to form a bond with your host family. Have conversations with them, surprise them from time to time with small gifts, and treat them as if they were your real parents or real siblings.

Before I stepped on the bus to leave the town of Puntarenas my host family stopped me. My host mom put her hand in mine and gave me a key. My host dad then explained that it was the key to the front door of the house. They said that I could return to Puntarenas anytime I wanted and would have a place to stay at their house. Back in my soft days I would have cried, but now hard and experienced, I just looked up to the sky and avoided the tears from leaking out. This exchange was truly symbolic of the relationship I formed with this family. To be honest I cannot picture my future without seeing them again.

My trip to Costa Rica has afforded me the opportunity to take a step outside of my hectic life in the States and recognize the more important things and the things about myself that I need to change. Sometimes we are too busy to actually think, and living what the Costa Ricans call ‘pura vida’ for the last four months has allowed me to approach obstacles in a very calm way. I feel rejuvenated and ready to take on my senior year at Davidson. I formed some great bonds in Costa Rica and I know that my friends there will be awaiting news from me in the future. The thought that a group of people cares for you is enough to produce a motivation within that inspires one to live a life that revolves around making these people proud to be associated with you. Knowing that someone stands with you through the good and bad inspires you to live for the good. “Para siempre” I will remember this far away family and “para siempre” I will carry with me the lessons learnt on our journey together these last four months ... “Gracias por todo,” and thank you Davidson for giving me the opportunity to experience this eventful semester abroad.

Adeu Barcelona!

By Josh Zipin

Hello Davidson family. My semester in Barcelona is coming to a close and this will be my final blog entry as I will be flying out back to the US of A this Thursday. The semester has flown by and I can’t believe my time is up here.

The last month has been very full with visits from Wildcat star athletes and friends from home. Showing friends the city has really allowed me to get to know the city much better. At the beginning of the semester I felt a little bit lost, not knowing how to get to places, especially with any kind of punctuality. But I’ve evolved into a real tour guide here, with walking and metro routes of the city that I’m comfortable with. It’s different than Davidson or my hometown of Silver Spring, Maryland, because I go so many places by foot so often. I feel almost as if I know my way around this city better than either American ones.

The weather has been incredible here for the last month, and one of my favorite activities during that time has been playing ping pong outside in the Ciutadella park. It’s a huge park, but in the corner of one of its many entrances there are 6 outdoor tables lined up. It has actually been a great way to meet local Catalans, just by goofing around and playing small, very informal tournaments. Small things like ping pong helped me feel much more connected to the city and its people.

It is a bit bittersweet because I feel so comfortable here now, but I am so excited to get home and get back to Davidson. I’ve developed a genuine affection for everything Barcelona, and it is almost like I am a real citizen now. I couldn’t be happier with my decision to study abroad, and especially choosing to study here. My Spanish has reached a level of fluency I did not anticipate reaching and I have become much more independent here. I’ve also experienced some completely new cultures, and of course, been privileged to be inundated in a soccer-crazy environment, home to the best team in the world, FC Barcelona.

I just finished my last exam of the semester, and am now officially a Davidson senior. That is really weird to think about. My flight is scheduled for Thursday morning but knowing this city, there are probably a few twists and turns left for me before I leave. It’s been great connecting with people at home through this blog and I hope everyone has enjoyed it as much as I have. Make sure to catch the Barca Champions League game today! Visc a Barca y Visc a Catalunya!

Adeu.

-Josh

Nicaraguan Adventure

By Yannick Pilgrim

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Hola Amigos,

Life is good over here in Costa Rica. In fact it rained yesterday for only the third time since I’ve been here. The temperature is still easily 95 degrees and higher on a daily basis, and I’ve gotten used to waking up in my own sweat. If the ocean was not so close, I probably would be going crazy right now. Well enough with the weather update; I have much to tell since my last blog entry.

Studying abroad is an experience, and anyone who has done it can tell you that some days are harder than others. With the travel and exploration of a foreign country comes certain risks, and for me, I learned a painful lesson crossing the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Let me first say that I have nothing against Nicaragua as a country. In fact it is a beautiful place with remarkable geography and an interesting culture. The problems I experienced in Nicaragua were limited to the border crossing.

The people that know me well can tell you that I am the kind of person who loves to do stuff on their own. Despite the warnings from my host parents, I decided to head to Nicaragua by myself for four days. I did sufficient research and planned my trip accordingly. I also spoke to some students on my program that had gone to Nicaragua in February in order to have an idea of what to expect at the border. From Puntarenas it took me 5 hours by bus to get to the border at Penas Blancas. The Costa Rican officials handled my paper work quickly and things were moving along faster than I expected.

After being done with customs in Costa Rica, I had to walk about 100 meters to a gate that was the crossover point for both countries. When I entered Nicaragua I felt a difference in the atmosphere. People were shoving customs papers in my face, asking if I needed a guide or a taxi, and telling me that if I didn’t have either, I would find myself in some trouble. I guess it was a moment in my time abroad where I really felt like an outsider. I had grown so accustomed to the “tranquila” life in Costa Rica. After breaking through the barrage of hustlers, I had to deal with a different problem. I have always heard of corruption on the border, but now I can say that I was a victim of it. The corruption practiced by police officers and custom officials at the border has become so common place that they can now do it in plain sight. I had a minor physical encounter with the border authorities who requested that I pay extra money to get into Nicaragua. They also told me I was not allowed to speak to anyone besides them. My Spanish deteriorated as my anger increased, making the situation even worse. I was outnumbered and with the law on their side I had no choice but to pay the price.

It was a tough lesson to learn and I really did not plan on using a blog entry to talk about the problems I had crossing the border. But I figure that while studying abroad a person is going to experience good and bad. Hopefully if you were planning on crossing the border to Nicaragua soon, this testimony can be of some assistance. I am doing fine now and have long since moved on from the incident. In fact, while in Nicaragua I spent time in San Juan del Sur, a beautiful beach town about 1 hour from the Penas Blancas border. While there I visited Playa Madera, a secluded beach great for surfing. It was a bit hard to find, but after hitchhiking a ride on the back of a tractor I finally found it.

I spent two days in San Juan del Sur and then I went on to Isla de Ometepe. Nicaragua has one of the biggest freshwater lakes in the world. Isla de Ometepe is also a world phenomenon, being one of the largest fresh water islands on the planet. But what makes this place so impressive are the two volcanoes located on either side of the island. I have grown very fascinated with volcanoes during my time here in Central America. They truly are magical to say the least. Beautiful yet dangerous. On the island I rented a dirt bike and went on one of the most fun adventures of my life. I stopped to see waterfalls, crystal clear streams, and to let cows cross the road. Everyone there was really friendly and was always interested in where I was from. A guy there was also kind enough to tell me that my name was a woman’s name in Nicaragua and I should change my name to Geoffrey for the duration of my stay. What a nice guy…

My Nicaraguan adventure. I must say my time at San Juan del Sur and Isla de Ometepe sure did make up for the trouble I had on the border. The thing is I had to cross it to go back. I’ll save you the details and just say that my exit was no greater than my entrance.

I am enjoying my time here in Costa Rica but I would be lying if I said that I was not missing my team and playing for Davidson. I get to play soccer here almost every day but it’s not the same. For the most part I miss the organization and scoring countless goals on Chip during practice. Too easy…

Until the next time…

PuRa vIdA