The bright green turf at Downes Field was trampled upon by the cleats of excited middle schoolers as they ran onto the field. Their field hockey sticks swished against the grass as they passed back and forth, determined to be the best at a drill or score a point in a scrimmage.
Last fall, senior captain Maggie Teahan and junior captain Clara Thibault began advertising for a new field hockey clinic in the fall with the help of Brookline varsity field hockey coach Emily Hunt. Field hockey, not being as popular as other sports, has struggled to get visibility from younger ages. The high school team set up the clinic in hopes that it could garner interest in field hockey and get more people to play.
Thibault has had experiences with similar clinics before, which she says helped pique her interest in the sport.
“I did a mini clinic in eighth grade, but it was a little camp thing. All of the town teams and club teams are kind of far away for middle schoolers,” Thibault said.
In Brookline, there are no opportunities to play field hockey in middle school, much less in the K-8 schools or on recreational teams.
“I didn’t even know field hockey until my freshman year. So I don’t know, there are club teams, but they’re in Milton and stuff, which I know a lot of parents don’t want to go to,” Teahan said.
Although many of the players on the team advertised at various middle schools, Coach Hunt ultimately helped pull it all together.
“I think that she’s just, she’s so passionate about field hockey, and I think that she really just wants to encourage younger generations to start playing the sport,” Teahan said.
The clinic took place when the field hockey team would ordinarily be practicing. The high schoolers ran the middle schoolers through a series of drills, including shooting, passing, and scoring drills, and ended the day with a scrimmage. The clinic was a great success, which led to discussion about bigger programs in the future.
“We might try to organize [a camp]. I think the camps would be super fun, and especially in the summer, when so many kids will be here and want to play,” Thibault said.
Senior and captain Mia DiCarlo never had the chance to play field hockey in middle school, so she was impressed at how many girls showed up to try something new.
“There were so many freshmen there, and it was really inspiring, honestly, to me for all these freshmen who already know they wanna play because I didn’t know at that time,” DiCarlo said.
The girls on the field hockey team love the sport and want to expand its reach through clinics and camps to encourage participation among younger kids in Brookline.
“I think a main reason why we wanted to do it is because field hockey is not a very popular sport in Brookline, but we all value it so much,” Thibault said. “We’re trying to introduce it to younger generations, to prepare them for the high school season.”
