Field Hockey
Favorite athlete: Rajon Rondo
Favorite team: Boston Celtics
Favorite memory competing in sports: Playing field hockey in high school and X-Calibur
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: “In my junior year of playing field hockey for high school, I was sitting on the back part in the goalie cage, and somehow I fell. Both my goalie boots were in the air caught in the net, and I felt so embarrassed. My whole team was on the ground laughing while I am struggling to get loose from the net.
Music on iPod: All types of hip hop music
Future plans: Go to college, become a successful businesswoman and coach field hockey
Words to live by: ‘It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.’ Vince Lombardi
One goal before turning 30: I want to travel the world and go to Hawaii
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m a clumsy person.
Eliana Gilette is defined by her competitive spirit and drive to excel, and it is those traits that have made the Norristown senior such a standout goalie for an Eagle squad that put itself on the map this season.
“If I had to look at my team, the first person I would pick to go to battle with would be her,” coach Stacie Staufenberg said. “She was our MVP, and she was extremely important to our team.”
Staufenberg – herself a former standout goalie – chooses her MVPs carefully.
“This award is given to a player you would not want to go into battle without,” the Eagles’ coach said. “They would be your first pick because if the other team got first pick, they would pick her, and you do not want to have to go against her.”
Gilette, a two-year varsity starter, has been an impact player since she set foot on the field as a junior, and her stats tell the story.
In her two years on the varsity, Gilette faced 520 shots and allowed just 53 goals. Do the math, and it’s pretty impressive – Gilette turned away 89.8 percent of the shots she faced.
The key, according to Gilette, is really quite simple.
“Heart and determination, I would say, because if you don’t have heart or aren’t determined to be a goalie, you can’t do it,” she said. “It takes heart to want to play and want to learn and be the best you can be.”
Gilette’s best was good enough to earn her first team all-league status in each of the last two years, and it is not a coincidence that the fortunes of the Eagles have improved dramatically with Gilette in the cage.
The Eagles won a total of four games in the two years combined before Gilette came on board. They won seven games when she was a junior and finished 6-6 in league play with Gilette routinely facing a barrage of shots.
"There were times when I wanted to give up because I was really tired of getting pummeled all the time, but I kept my head held high and kept pushing through," she said.
In the season just completed, the Eagles were 7-5 in league action and finished fourth in the American Conference, good enough to earn the program’s first ever berth in the District One AAA Tournament.
Their reward was a date with 2010 district runner-up Mount St. Joseph Academy. Although the Eagles saw their season end in a 2-0 loss to the Magic, Gilette – who turned away 23 shots in a dazzling performance – and her teammates walked away with their heads held high.
“Making districts was like a dream,” Gilette said. “I was happy even though we lost 2-0 to the Mount. It was a big step for us, and I was so excited that we got there.”
Gilette got her start playing field hockey in the East Norriton Girls Athletic Association (ENGAA). She was a field player until seventh grade when her team needed a goalie.
“I always wanted to score,” Gilette said. “My mom was a field hockey player, and she loved to score, and that’s what I wanted to do.
“In seventh grade, they didn’t have a goalie, and we weren’t going to be able to play if nobody volunteered, so I decided to do it. At first I was really nervous, but once I got comfortable with it and started to learn about being a goalie, I actually really liked it.”
It was under the tutelage of Staufenberg and her daughter Lindsay – also a goalie - that Gilette began to develop her skills in the cage.
“In middle school, they didn’t teach me much except – keep the ball out of the cage, but when I got to high school, that’s when I learned my skills,” Gilette said “Coach Stauf was a goalie herself, so she knew what I needed to work on. She was very important.”
Staufenburg acknowledged that Gilette is a special player.
“She loves her opponent, which is an amazing trait,” the Eagles’ coach said. “I always preach to our team that without an opponent, we have no team. People don’t always get that, but she gets it.
“Because she’s played for X-Calibur and Keystones, she’s met a lot of people. Opponents love Ellie, her teammates love Ellie because she laughs and just loves being there, and she works hard. She never slacks off, ever, ever, ever.”
Although field hockey is her true passion, Gilette also played softball and basketball with ENGAA, and she continues to play both sports with that organization to this day. This spring, Gilette will be going out for lacrosse for the first time.
“They need a goalie, so I’ll give it a try,” she said.
For the past two summers, Gilette competed in the Keystone State Games and last year joined the club circuit when she began playing for X-Calibur.
“When I went up there, it was really different because the goalies rarely touch the ball,” she said. “I was like, ‘Wow, this is really weird.’
“I learned there were very, very good and talented players out there. I thought we were good in our league, but when you go outside our league, there are people that are amazing, and it taught me to be a better goalie playing against higher caliber teams. It was a new challenge for me, a new goal I set for myself, and I really loved that.”
In addition to improving her level of play, Gilette made a whole new group of friends.
“It’s fun to meet new people who have the same love for the game as you,” she said. “I love hockey. I would give up my whole weekend to play hockey. I give up my social life half the time to play field hockey because I just love the game. I could never play hockey too much.”
According to Staufenberg, Gilette is her team’s best scout.
“She looks at the scores, she looks at who’s on the team, and she scouts them,” the Eagles’ coach said. “She brings scouting reports to our huddle.
“In the postseason, she went to more games than I did, which is unheard of.”
This season, the Eagles pulled off a 2-1 upset of second place Upper Dublin and hung tough in a 2-0 loss to Plymouth Whitemarsh in Norristown’s Senior Night game that – because of field conditions – was moved to PW’s turf field.
“She played awesome against Upper Dublin, and she played out of her mind against PW,” Staufenberg said. “She had a phenomenal game.”
Just as she excels on the hockey field, Gilette also excels in the classroom. She boasts a 4.5 GPA and takes a course load that includes all honors classes and one AP class.
“I think academics are the most important part because that’s what is going to get you somewhere in life,” Gilette said. “I want to go into business, and I always knew it was my academics that would get me through and give me a successful life.”
Gilette is looking at East Stroudsburg, Shippensburg and Bloomsburg.
In the meantime, Gilette – who hopes to coach hockey someday - is working with the heir apparent to her job.
“I have been teaching a goalie at ENGAA for two years, and I love her to death,” she said. “Helping her and teaching her – that’s what I love to do. I love to help people.”
Over her Thanksgiving break, Gilette will be traveling with her X-Calibur team to the National Hockey Festival in Phoenix, Arizona.
“Ever since I made the team, I’ve been counting down the days,” she said. “It will be my first time flying, it will be my first time at the festival, so I’m really excited about going.
“Everyone says it’s beautiful out there. I’m hoping I’ll be seen (by college coaches).”
Staufenberg, for one, believes Gilette is a natural fit to play at the collegiate level.
“She a very strong, steady goalie who will continue to improve,” the Eagles’ coach said. “She has the will and the heart and the ability all in one.
“(Upper Dublin coach) Heather Boyer said at our league meeting, ‘She’s a senior, isn’t she?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and she said, ‘Thank god, she’s been here forever.’ She’s only been varsity for two years, but she is such a strong competitor with great determination and tremendous power.”
Exactly the kind of traits necessary to be successful in the cage.
