After a swift swing at the ball and an upward deflection off her stick, Kathryn Asiel ’24 is uppercutted with a rock-hard field hockey ball directly to the face. Asiel suffered a broken nose and a concussion as a result of this field hockey play during the 2022 season. However, this did not stop Asiel. 

Kathryn Asiel is a starting varsity Staples field hockey player. Asiel is positioned as a center midfielder, though in the past she has performed as a left defender. Asiel first joined the team her freshman year, making her one of the four freshmen to make the 2020 varsity team.

“I was aiming to make varsity in my upcoming season as a freshmen at Staples and I worked really hard all throughout the summer and developed my skills a lot,” Asiel said.

Asiel has faced many challenges across her nine-year field hockey career, from broken toes and injured backs, to her most recent injury, a broken nose and a concussion.

Asiel also suffered a back injury early her sophomore season in September.

“It was really difficult and kind of stopped or flattened my trajectory as a player,” Asiel said.

Asiel was faced with many doctor visits and x-rays. It was concluded Asiel had Scapular Dyskinesis, which were dislocated shoulder blades. She was ultimately forced to constantly see a physical therapist if she wanted to return to the field hockey field.

This past season, Asiel’s junior year, she happily returned to the game full time. 

“I kind of saw myself as a player again, for the first time in a while,” Asiel said. 

It wasn’t until this season’s annual pink field hockey game, for breast cancer awareness against Brien McMahon, that Asiel was faced with her concussion and broken nose after going in for a tackle, forcing her out of the game once again. 

After a hefty recovery, Asiel eventually made her return back into the season as her team competed against Darien in the FCIAC semifinals and returned just in time for their first round of States as well.

With many highs and lows throughout Asiels career, she manages to work her hardest, earning her the FCIAC Honorable Mention award and the coaches award during the end of season 2022 field hockey banquet, where she was also named as the 2023 captain, along with Sofia Fidalgo ’25, for the upcoming season. 

“I’m hoping to bring the team really close together and I think everyone on the team is so technically and skillfully amazing,” Asiel said, “and I just think we need a cohesive bond to really put us over the top for next year.”

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