By: Cate Casparius ’19 and Daniel Harizman ’19
The 2016 season has been a great success thus far for the Staples girls’ field hockey team. Sweeping competition in all aspects and earning a record of 10 wins, zero losses and two ties has brought the program profoundly new respect and recognition.
Led by captains Colleen Bannon ’17, Christine Taylor ’18 and Chloe Deveney ’17, the team has incorporated and enhanced new talent, strategy and spirit.
Although there have been many contributing facets to the team’s supreme success, those among the most momentous are the new and unique team dynamic, exhausting conditioning and the tremendous team leadership.
Elle Fair ’19, is a firm believer in the importance of execution in game situations and the development of effective teamwork.
“The fact that we have had extreme success and have been winning the majority of our games has brought a whole new attitude to the team. We know we can compete with top teams so we are just pushing everyday to be the best we can possibly be” Fair stated.
Field hockey head coach, Ian Tapsall, was a new addition to the team in the 2015 season. Implementing new offensive strategy and effective usage of conditioning, Tapsall seeked to revitalize the program.
Gabriella Vega ’18 has played a large role in her team’s success this year, scoring 10 goals in 12 games. Vega ’18 understands the strategy Coach Tapsall has taken in reconstructing the team.
“Last year our coach was new to the program and developed a whole new foundation to the team” Vega said.
The numerous practices and training sessions the girls have endured this year and original strategy, have directly impacted their results on the field this year.
“We play more comfortable with Ian’s formation now. It is a diamond shape and it throws a lot of teams off,” Elle Fair ’19 added.
Captain Christine Taylor ’18 is extremely appreciative of the performance of underclassmen, freshman Kyle Kirby and Grace Cooper up to this point in the season.
“Kyle Kirby has played a key role on our team this year contributing a lot in goals and assists in the offensive end. Grace Cooper has also stepped up big time, she is great at tackling and has made some big defensive stops which help a lot” Taylor said.
The hard work and determination has taken the Staples girls’ field hockey team this far. The girl’s now have only two sights for the near future; the FCIAC and state titles.
“As we have experienced from the season, we realize this hard work has payed off but we understand we can’t let go of this drive, and we have to push ourselves even harder for fciacs and states” Vega ’18 stated.