Field Hockey

For a week and a half, nearly 55 faces gathered underneath the hot summer sun with one goal in mind: winning. Rebecca ‘Becky’ Elliot, the head coach of the field hockey team at St. Johns, knows the importance of preseason training. 

“Preseason training is important because it gets the team back into the mode and mindset of hockey. Even though many of the girls have done a lot of hockey over the summer, some haven’t, so it helps them get back into it,” Elliot said. “We also had ten new St. John’s students, so they were able to meet before school started and got to know people before they even jumped into the academic aspect. Being able to practice without the players worrying about their academics is nice.”

For their preseason training, the field hockey players completed intense exercises every day for the week and a half leading up to the season.

“We would do two-a-days every other day. Those would last two hours in the morning and 90 minutes in the evening. If we didn’t have a two-a-day, we would either do two hours in the morning or two hours in the evening.”

While difficult, the players’ training practices were structured in a simple manner. 

“We would start with stretching that was typically led by the captains. We would then next do individual skill work and partner skill work. We then would move into smaller-sided games: keep away, 3v2s, 2v1s, 1v1s, and later transition into bigger stuff. Fitness is always mixed in there.”

In the long run, Elliot thinks that this extra work will pay off.

“This team is very strong. We have a deep roster with a lot of skills. Many of them have been playing for a long time, so I’m excited about them.”

Ultimately, Elliot expects the team to perform even better than they did last year.

“Last year, we got second in the South Zone and second in the conference, but we just want to do better,” Elliot said. “I absolutely believe we have the potential to win it all.”