Field Hockey
Favorite athlete: Mitch Marner
Favorite team: Philadelphia Flyers
Favorite memory competing in sports: My favorite memory was beating CB East in overtime at the beginning of the season this year.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: In third grade, when I went to my first ice hockey clinic, I forgot to take my skate guards off and I slipped and fell in front of everyone.
Music on playlist: Throwback pop from the 2000’s, rap, and country.
Future plans: I plan to major in Kinesiology or Exercise Science and eventually become an Orthopedic Physician’s Assistant.
Words to live by: “Love Every Day” – it was my mom’s favorite saying.
One goal before turning 30: I want to travel the world to meet and experience different people and cultures.
One thing people don’t know about me: I’ve never broken a bone before.
By Mary Jane Souder
Marielle Mauri should be forgiven if she forgets that it’s illegal to use both sides of a field hockey stick or – without thinking – is a bit too aggressive during games. It turns out the Central Bucks South senior grew up playing ice hockey, initially with the boys’ middle school team and more recently with the Lady Patriots.
“In third grade, I had an ice skating party, and I fell in love with ice skating, so I started ice hockey,” Mauri said. “My dad played ice hockey when he was growing up as well. We’ve been a big hockey family – Flyers. I was like ‘Wow, this is a cool sport.’ I tried it and fell in love with it. I’ve been playing since third grade.”
Mauri admits it was initially intimidating.
“It’s stereotypically a guys’ sport, so it was definitely interesting, but I had fun,” she said. “My team was very protective of me just because I was the only girl on the team.”
In seventh grade, Mauri decided to add field hockey to her resume. After all, how different could it be from ice hockey?
“I thought I would enjoy it because I was so used to hockey, so I’m like, ‘Huh, maybe this will be kind of the same,’” she said. “It’s definitely not the same, but I loved it.”
The rules for the two sports, as Mauri quickly found out, are vastly different, and she reverts to ice hockey lingo when she recalls her introduction to field hockey
“I used to get a bunch of penalties against me because I would use my body too much,” Mauri said with a laugh. “I would push people off the ball, and you’re not allowed to do that.
“Same with the opposite side of the stick – that took me a while to get used to.”
The decision to switch to an all girls’ team when Mauri reached high school was all but made for her by her father who was concerned that – at 
just 5-2 – she would be at a distinct disadvantage going against her much bigger male counterparts.
“Girls are allowed contact but no checking,” Mauri said.
According to South field hockey coach Pat Toner, Mauri still might have a few lapses when her ice hockey instincts show through, but there’s no mistaking she has become a valuable part of the varsity.
“She’s an ice hockey player, so she has a really good sense of movement off the ball and a really good feel for the goal,” the Titans’ coach said. “We’ve used her in a bunch of different spots. She’s started varsity the last two years, and this year she’s been a really important part of our team.
“We’ve moved her from deep defender to center mid. She’s in on our corners – we have her all over the place, and she’s been phenomenal.”
Toner knew well before Mauri played varsity that this was an athlete that would be a positive addition to the team.
“She probably doesn’t know I remember this, but she was talking to (jayvee coach) Kelli Chioffe, and she was almost in tears – she was really disappointed in her own play and the fact that jayvee didn’t win the game, and she was concerned about it,” Toner said. “I looked at that, and I thought – ‘That’s a kid that’s going to be on varsity in no time because it matters so much that you lost a jayvee game. I can’t wait until you develop the skills that you need for varsity,’ and she did.”
Love every day
Mauri, according to her coach, brings much more than skills and a competitive drive to the hockey field.
“She’s a sparkly kid,” Toner said. “She walks into a room, and she just sparkles. Her eyes sparkle. You can’t not like her.
“She’s just a bubbly, positive, funny kid. She has a great sense of humor. She can be silly when she needs to be, and I think anytime you can bring a little silly into the world, it’s good. She’s just a fun kid to be around, a positive influence.”
Mauri’s effervescent personality belies the fact that she has been through some unimaginably difficult times for such a young person. It also speaks to the family who raised her, especially her mother, Gloria Mauri, who passed away this past summer after losing her courageous battle with uterine cancer and then leukemia.
“It started when I was in fourth grade,” Marielle said. “She had a hysterectomy and was in remission for a while until the fall of sophomore year it came back.
“She had many surgeries, and she had another surgery summer going into junior year, and everything went perfectly. They told her it was all good. I remember at hockey practice when we got the news that the surgery went really well. We were very hopeful.
“When her hair was growing back, we were all talking about her new style and all this stuff, totally expecting it to be smooth sailing. In May, she was diagnosed with leukemia on top of the cancer that came back for the third time, and that’s what took its toll on her.”
Several weeks later, on June 15, Gloria Mauri passed away.
“She was my best friend,” Marielle said. “Honestly, it’s almost like I’m still in shock about the whole thing. I’ve definitely not fully processed it. It’s definitely a longer process than I expected. It’s tough.”
Toner and the field hockey team have been a welcome source of support.
“The field hockey girls are like a big family to me, so they were super supportive,” Marielle said. “PT (Toner) put a GM, my mom’s initials on the back of our practice pinnies. It’s been really helpful to have a lot of people there for me and supporting me whenever I need it.
“PT is a huge help. She’s gone through a lot as well, and she relates to me.”
Toner cannot talk about Marielle without also talking about her mother.
“Her mom was one of the sweetest, most wonderful, beautiful people I’ve ever met,” the Titans’ coach said. “I absolutely adore her whole family. Her mother was the kind of person that while she was fighting all these different problems – you never knew it because she was busy taking care of her friends, planning parties for her friends and trying to do things. Her saying was: love every day.”
A pharmacist at Walgreen’s, Gloria took every opportunity to brighten the days of others.
“One day I went to pick up a prescription, and I heard over the loudspeaker, ‘PT, your prescription is ready,’ so I walked back, and it was her mom,” Toner said. “This was before I knew she was sick or anything was wrong. When I got home there was a little pill bottle in my bag with a really cute smiley face on it. I saved it.”
Recently, Toner’s thoughts went to Gloria, who would have been celebrating her birthday that day.
“I was decorating cookies, and in my head, I was thinking, ‘I hope you’re having a good birthday in heaven, and if you have a chance, say hi to my family for me,’” the Titans coach said. “I reached in a cabinet to get something, and that little pill bottle fell out with the smiley face, face up. I thought it was her saying, ‘Heard you.’
“To watch her mother suffer through so much and keep such a positive attitude - including Marielle, they have the most positive attitude. Never did I hear them complain. No matter how bad things were, there was never any complaining. It was always looking for the positive, and that’s the kind of kid Marielle is.”
The peach-colored heart on the back of the pinnies with the initials GM in the middle is a reminder of the fighter Gloria Mauri was, and the Titans have dedicated their season to her.
A bright future
Mauri – who grew up taking dance and gymnastics lessons – will never lose her love for sports, and the opportunity to work with athletes has played a role in her career choice. She has her sights set on becoming an orthopedic physician’s assistant.
“I want to work with athletes so bad – I love watching sports, so I feel that would open a door for me to work with athletes in the future,” she said.
She is undecided on a college and is not looking to compete in sports at the next level.
“As much as I love sports, I want to focus on school,” said Mauri, whose sister Maddie is a senior at Penn State.
School has been a whole lot more than sports to the South senior. She has been a student council officer since her sophomore year, she is a member of the National Honor Society and the Science Honor Society. She is involved in Operation Eternal Gratitude, a club that supports the military, as well as CHOP Club, which raises money for the Children’s Hospital and will be holding a 5K for the 
benefit of CHOP this year. Mauri is vice president of Athletes Helping Athletes, which assists special needs students in activities and programs involving athletics. She is a member of Titans Connect and Unified Track, both of which work with special needs students.
For now, Mauri is enjoying the final weeks of her senior field hockey season.
“PT was a huge part of why I fell in love with field hockey,” she said. “The environment we’re in every single day after school – it’s not an easy commitment, but it makes it feel so natural and just like a family because we’re all so close with each other. It’s just a fun environment to be in.”
Ask Mauri what she takes with her from competing in field hockey, and it’s not the memories of wins and losses but rather the life lessons she’s learned along the way.
“Learning it’s okay to not be perfect all the time, it’s okay to mess up,” she said. “PT has especially taught us that – move on, it’s not the end of the world. Life will go on. I think that’s a huge part of what I’ve learned.”
Mauri is living by the same principles that were such a natural and integral part of her mother’s life.
“She came to all my sports games, as much as she could get there at least,” she said. “I’ve been doing pretty good this season, and I’ve got to say – I’m playing for her.
“My mom was loved by every single person, and she always told me – if you’re nice to people, they’re going to be nice to you, so stay positive, be kind to everyone you encounter and live your life.”
