With eight seniors graduating from last year's team and only one senior returning, Garden Spot field hockey will be counting on its juniors to lead the way this season.
Players attending media day:
Aliyah Zimmerman (left), junior, forward
Alyssa Swatski, junior, defender
The team also is coming off a move from Section 3 to Section 2 last year that left them with only one section win. "We lost probably half of those games, or over half of those games, by one goal so we didn't get blown out in those games we lost," says Kaya Straub, in her ninth season as an assistant coach.
She said the current senior contingent is so small because they were seventh graders during the Covid-19 year and didn't take up field hockey. The Spartans will be counting on four juniors and also the stronger numbers within the sophomore and freshman classes.
Getting the junior and sophomore classes to play "as that solid group for two years is going to be awesome to see how they can develop together," says Straub.
Does that add pressure for the juniors?
"Since we were freshmen there's only really been three or four of us, so we're kind of used to it," says Zimmerman. Swatski adds that they are quite confident in the sophomores.
Being on the winning side of more of those one-score games is a goal.
Zimmerman says running hurdles in track provides benefits in agility and speed for her on the field. "It's helpful to have a sprinter on the forward line," adds Straub with a chuckle.
A friendly rivalry for the team is Cocalico, which shares a border and finds players from the same club team on each side.
LNP | LancasterOnline hosted Field Hockey Media Day at its downtown Lancaster office to connect local media with Lancaster-Lebanon League players and coaches.
