Whenever banquet time rolls around, it is always a very bittersweet occasion. It is always nice to reunite with the Duck family of course; however, it is also one of the last full group gatherings of the Field Hockey bunch – including the seniors. This year, as usual, we recognized all of the team’s accomplishments as well as those of the fan’s (including the top fans – my Mom’s canavan of people to games actually won part of the top fans – WOOOT MOM!).
I’ll give a very brief run-through of the events that occurred on that morning. Since all of us LOVE to eat, the banquet commenced with the seniors families going to the buffet first, followed by seniors, which then went onto the families of all players, and concluded with the eating of the players. We have a very special tradition where the wonderful families throw a tailgate for us after every game, and after each and every game, the families wait to eat/tailgate until us, players, eat first (even waiting for slow-pokes like me to get changed). So, at the banquet, we recognize that fact and wait on our families who have always waited on us.
After we filled our bellies, Coach Reed talked and then let us players talk about the wonderful group of seniors we have this year (Jessie Ablonczy, Kara Borzillo, Erin Broderick, Megan Clifford, and Liz Zmijewski). We gave our speeches, all of which praised the seniors for being the awesome people they are…but not forgetting to add humor to it because that’s how we always are.
During the speeches that us FHOCers give to the seniors, we also give them a scrapbook so they have the bestest pictures/memories of their time here on this team. Included in the scrapbooks were pictures from Halloween, team trip to Argentina, chubby bunny contests, team pictures, as well as a few pictures of a certain teammate just being plain evil. Items like these I think are the most rewarding to make because it lets us give the upperclassmen a token that they can always keep to remember the times they’ve had here at Stevens.
And, to keep the entertainment going, there were some outrageously funny moments of the brunch – an amazing highlight video was shown displaying the skill of our team and how far we’ve come from preseason. Even watching the video at the banquet, gave all of us goosebumps (maybe I can just change it here to duckbumps) to appreciate the truly remarkable talent of all of us on a whole. In addition to game tape, we also got a glimpse of each and every truly special senior. A ten-minute long tape was made that had the funny moments of each and every senior – including Jessie Ablonczy’s videotaping on the plane ride from Argentina when her and Cliff acted like the Crocodile Hunter, Kara pretending to be Scooby Doo and Erin pretending to be Velma, and of course having the Evil One tripping Coach on tape from Argentina. For that short time frame, my stomach hurt so much from laughing so hard.
After many thoughtful and sincere speeches (and of course tons of pictures which will be shown), the banquet was near over. The Ducks Family 2009 had reunited again – and it was no less pleasurable than everyone expected it to be. The only thing that would have made it truly the best, was if Val was there and that her Mother was safe and healthy. Her presence was missed but even from afar, the mark Val has on this team was felt.
All in all, when one chapter closes, another one opens. Seeing what we accomplished at the banquet made everyone exponentially more excited for the upcoming spring season and regular fall season to begin. I however cannot end this blog without adding a short side-note of what surprises the captains had in store for Coach Reed. Since she will be getting married in the summer, (and has, time and time again, convinced us that she cannot afford for all of us current and past players to attend her wedding), they threw a mach wedding – where she even threw a bouquet of flowers and had a veil. We all hope Coach Reed liked what the captains planned, especially so they’d know our presence will hopefully be felt at her wedding day as well.
<3 Lauren "Grigglet" Griggs
Friday, February 12, 2010
Erin "E"'s Senior Send Off
These past four years have been an incredible journey. Coming to the realization that my collegiate field hockey career is over has been difficult. Even though my senior season did not end the way I planned, it was one of the most rewarding. I learned more about my strengths and weaknesses this year than any other.
Stevens Field Hockey has been and will remain a huge part of my life. It really is true when people talk about the journey being more important than the outcome. I can’t recall many wins or losses but I can recall all of the friendships I have made and all of the adventures I have taken with this team. And, playing college hockey with my little sister, Meghan, was something special; a memory I will never forget.
I really thought I would have been a mess after my last field hockey game as a Stevens Duck. I was upset, yes, but it was more of a bittersweet feeling. It was a close to an amazing chapter in my life and an opening to a new beginning. I will be back next year, just watching my little sister and the rest of the team dominate, as always.
Much love,
Erin #30
Stevens Field Hockey has been and will remain a huge part of my life. It really is true when people talk about the journey being more important than the outcome. I can’t recall many wins or losses but I can recall all of the friendships I have made and all of the adventures I have taken with this team. And, playing college hockey with my little sister, Meghan, was something special; a memory I will never forget.
I really thought I would have been a mess after my last field hockey game as a Stevens Duck. I was upset, yes, but it was more of a bittersweet feeling. It was a close to an amazing chapter in my life and an opening to a new beginning. I will be back next year, just watching my little sister and the rest of the team dominate, as always.
Much love,
Erin #30
Liz "Voldemort"'s Senior Words of Wisdom
If you had told me four years ago that I would be at the point in my life I am now I would have thought you were crazy. I would never have been able to fathom that I would play such a part in helping a then 2 year program win its first conference title and make its first trip to the NCAAs, let alone Captain the team to the same fate the following year.
When I was a freshman I was the quiet kid in the corner. Most of my classmates broke out of their shell the day they got here; some never even had a shell. Me, it took me a good two years to break out of my shell. I did get a few cracks along the way though. I still remember the first time I “took someone out.” We were doing a goalie bumping drill and Meris was filling in as our goalie. I knocked her over. Later, on an away trip where I was making my first collegiate start, Meris told me to do to W&J what I did to her. I remember running off the field at the end of the game and saying “Meris that was for you!” It was like Tom Riddle’s first dabbles into the Dark Arts ;) I can recall a few more moments when my shell started to crack, I called out Katie Mo for wearing her shorts backwards (on multiple occasions), and each and every time I knocked someone over during a game (which started happening more and more often) put another little crack in my shell.
Overall it was on our trip to Argentina when it all fell away. It was on this trip, as most of you know and saw at the banquet, that I took our Jess Reed. I guess you could say there’s no going back after that. While on a walk through Buenos Aires with Kara and Hillary, we got in a heated discussion about Harry Potter, it was during this time that Hillary decided I was our teams Voldemort (she was Harry as she had a scar on her leg that itched when I got close :) ). As I broke out off the field, I started to break out on the field too. My summer play had helped boost my skills and my confidence in them. My parents no longer cringed when I got the ball, and I knew no one on the other team would get the ball past me. During my junior year we had to fill out self-evaluations, and I was one of few people that actually checked “No-one in my conference is better than me.” I set high personal goals for myself that year, I wanted to score a goal and I wanted to receive end of season honors from the Empire 8.
My senior year it all came together. I was nervous coming in; we had lost such a talented group of girls the previous year. I knew we could and would do it all again, but it would take a lot of hard work. Seeing our freshman at camp helped ease my nerves. I could see the potential in all of them. During the season, we had our struggles, but I am so proud of everything that we overcame. In having previously won the Empire 8 Championship, and being voted to win again, we had a huge target on our back. Not only that but we were voted higher in the Coaches Poll than we had ended our season. Now, not only were our conference foes gunning for us, but EVERYONE was. In the end, we pulled through. We beat Montclair; we beat Rowan; we beat every team in our conference; we beat some twice and we won the Empire 8 Championship again. On our own turf. I couldn’t have asked for a better senior year. To be able to help the team accomplish so much, and to help lead the team to such accomplishments, meant a lot to me. Not only did we do great things as a team, personally I had achieved my goals. I scored my first goal (in my entire life!) against Hartwick, in double overtime, in the game that decided who would host the E8 tournament. And at the end of the season, I received second-team honors.
As I look back over my time here, I know I will never forget it. I have found confidence in myself that I will never lose, I have learned to follow, I have learned to lead, I have learned to get along with so many different personalities, I have learned to make friends with people I wouldn’t have imagined I would (Ellyn :) ), but most importantly I have learned who I am and how I got here and I will never forget that. I have great memories, from Halloween costumes (some won Ipods!), trips to other countries, trips to other states (we are one of the few teams here that wouldn’t give up our long road weekends for anything), weird voices, funny quotes, random dress up practices (Mexican Fiesta anybody?) and every person that I have been able to call a teammate and friend. It’s hard to go away to college, but having awesome teammates makes it easier. In fact it makes it hard to have to leave college. Thankfully some of my teammates have become my best friends who will start the next part of my journey with me, and I know I can shoot any of my teammates or coaches an email, text, or facebook wall posting whenever I need help or just want to keep in touch.
When I was a freshman I was the quiet kid in the corner. Most of my classmates broke out of their shell the day they got here; some never even had a shell. Me, it took me a good two years to break out of my shell. I did get a few cracks along the way though. I still remember the first time I “took someone out.” We were doing a goalie bumping drill and Meris was filling in as our goalie. I knocked her over. Later, on an away trip where I was making my first collegiate start, Meris told me to do to W&J what I did to her. I remember running off the field at the end of the game and saying “Meris that was for you!” It was like Tom Riddle’s first dabbles into the Dark Arts ;) I can recall a few more moments when my shell started to crack, I called out Katie Mo for wearing her shorts backwards (on multiple occasions), and each and every time I knocked someone over during a game (which started happening more and more often) put another little crack in my shell.
Overall it was on our trip to Argentina when it all fell away. It was on this trip, as most of you know and saw at the banquet, that I took our Jess Reed. I guess you could say there’s no going back after that. While on a walk through Buenos Aires with Kara and Hillary, we got in a heated discussion about Harry Potter, it was during this time that Hillary decided I was our teams Voldemort (she was Harry as she had a scar on her leg that itched when I got close :) ). As I broke out off the field, I started to break out on the field too. My summer play had helped boost my skills and my confidence in them. My parents no longer cringed when I got the ball, and I knew no one on the other team would get the ball past me. During my junior year we had to fill out self-evaluations, and I was one of few people that actually checked “No-one in my conference is better than me.” I set high personal goals for myself that year, I wanted to score a goal and I wanted to receive end of season honors from the Empire 8.
My senior year it all came together. I was nervous coming in; we had lost such a talented group of girls the previous year. I knew we could and would do it all again, but it would take a lot of hard work. Seeing our freshman at camp helped ease my nerves. I could see the potential in all of them. During the season, we had our struggles, but I am so proud of everything that we overcame. In having previously won the Empire 8 Championship, and being voted to win again, we had a huge target on our back. Not only that but we were voted higher in the Coaches Poll than we had ended our season. Now, not only were our conference foes gunning for us, but EVERYONE was. In the end, we pulled through. We beat Montclair; we beat Rowan; we beat every team in our conference; we beat some twice and we won the Empire 8 Championship again. On our own turf. I couldn’t have asked for a better senior year. To be able to help the team accomplish so much, and to help lead the team to such accomplishments, meant a lot to me. Not only did we do great things as a team, personally I had achieved my goals. I scored my first goal (in my entire life!) against Hartwick, in double overtime, in the game that decided who would host the E8 tournament. And at the end of the season, I received second-team honors.
As I look back over my time here, I know I will never forget it. I have found confidence in myself that I will never lose, I have learned to follow, I have learned to lead, I have learned to get along with so many different personalities, I have learned to make friends with people I wouldn’t have imagined I would (Ellyn :) ), but most importantly I have learned who I am and how I got here and I will never forget that. I have great memories, from Halloween costumes (some won Ipods!), trips to other countries, trips to other states (we are one of the few teams here that wouldn’t give up our long road weekends for anything), weird voices, funny quotes, random dress up practices (Mexican Fiesta anybody?) and every person that I have been able to call a teammate and friend. It’s hard to go away to college, but having awesome teammates makes it easier. In fact it makes it hard to have to leave college. Thankfully some of my teammates have become my best friends who will start the next part of my journey with me, and I know I can shoot any of my teammates or coaches an email, text, or facebook wall posting whenever I need help or just want to keep in touch.
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