The article below is sponsored on behalf of the Upper Dublin field hockey team by Adam Simmens, Esquire, Certified Public Accountant.
By Mary Jane Souder
Winning at all cost is not part of Heather Boyer’s philosophy, but the Upper Dublin coach knew something had to change after last year’s 5-13 season.
“We had a down year for a number of reasons that were beyond our control,” the Flying Cardinals’ coach said. “At the end of the season, I had a sincere talk with the underclassmen that were returning and said, ‘Look, we are righting the ship, we are changing course, we are changing directions, and I need you to commit 100 percent. I need you to commit to the offseason training and be ready to come in Aug. 15 ready to go. If you’re not, that’s okay, but you need to find something else to do.’ I wasn’t sure how that was going to go.”
This year’s 10-4-1 overall record and a 10-2 mark second only to defending SOL American Conference champion tells the story, and Boyer points to her team’s six seniors – Elizabeth Barber, Ruby Dougherty, Jess Grodsky, Shannon Reape, Marlee Siegel and Alex Thompson - for setting the tone.
“They’re in and you can tell,” Boyer said. “They hold a high standard in terms of leadership, they’re good teammates, they rally around the underclassmen and they’re supportive of everybody.
“They’ve set a very good example, which is more than half of the battle, so I’m proud of them for their efforts and for really turning the program around in the right direction.”
Siegel acknowledged that last year was a difficult year for the Cardinals.
“It was tough,” she said. “We had a lot of things that happened and messed us up, and we lost a lot of motivation to play.
“This year with our senior class, we’ve really tried to work together and show the underclassmen we have to work hard, and it can work out in the end.”
Giving the team a boost this year was the return of Reape, who played varsity as a freshman but transferred to Spring-Ford for her sophomore and junior years.
“She came back and got right back at it – that charismatic presence and that vocal leader,” Boyer said.
Reape, one of four captains, meshed effortlessly with her former teammates.
“It’s been really good,” she said. “I grew up here, and I wanted to end my high school here with my teammates that I missed.
“We have a really good sense of family. We’re all best friends, we get along. We work together and use each other’s strengths to be successful.”
That camaraderie is a recurring theme when the seniors talk about their team’s turnaround.
“We are much closer as a team,” Barber said. “Our senior class this year really wanted to get everyone involved, and I think it shows on and off the field.”
“We all care when we got out there and want to win and leave it on the field,” Thompson said. “We play as good as our weakest player, and if everyone feels the passion to leave it all out there and try their hardest, it will make us play better and help us connect on the field.
“I’m so happy I have this team as my senior year of field hockey. I love how close everyone is, and we all cheer each other on even if we may not be playing our best. Whether it’s on the field or (off), I know I got 29 other girls who got my back.”
According to Grodsky, every player worked individually to better themselves.
“It really made for a better team,” she said. “Those who were here last year knew what it felt like to have a losing record, and it didn’t feel good.
“In the preseason, we were all asked, ‘Are you in?’ and I feel like we all are to change the face of the program. The girls on the team really make for a special season. There is no group of girls I would rather be experiencing my last season with. I have only been a part of the team for a year, but the close bonds I have made with each of the girls are ones that I will always remember.”
The Flying Cardinals’ unity was never more apparent than in this year’s Corners for Cancer event, an event that was organized and spearheaded by the team’s six seniors and surpassed their ambitious goal of $10,000.
It is the first time Boyer has delegated that responsibility to her players.
“It was getting to be too much, so I went to the administration and asked if I could use the seniors on my team to help me with this and that could be their culminating senior project because it’s supposed to be a community service driven project,” the Cardinals’ coach said. “They said yes, and that certainly helped because they took ownership because it is their project. They really did a fantastic job with it too.”
The planning began several months in advance of the culminating event – the Flying Cardinals’ game against Upper Moreland on Saturday, Sept. 23.
“We spent a lot of time going to businesses and getting donations,” Reape said. “It was really neat to see the local businesses and how they wanted to give back.”
“It’s definitely been a whole team effort,” Siegel added. “We got donations from family and friends, and it has really added up. Honestly, it’s been so great.”
The team received on-line contributions of over $5,500 prior to the event, and one of the team’s most creative raffles was the offer to carry the winner’s bag for an entire school day. Between 20-25 baskets were raffled the day of the game.
“Right after the event, we went inside, and we counted up the money,” Siegel said. “We were actually $400 short (of $10,000), and we were so upset.
“We have a group chat within our entire team, and we sent a message to everyone we knew just trying to hit our goal. We surpassed it within the next few hours, and it was an amazing feeling.”
In an interesting twist, each grade wore a different color t-shirt with the seniors wearing teal for ovarian cancer, the juniors pink for breast cancer, the sophomores white for lung cancer and the freshmen periwinkle for stomach and esophageal cancers.
“Both of my grandmothers passed away from ovarian cancer, so cancer definitely touches my heart,” Siegel said. “Everybody knows somebody, unfortunately, who has cancer, and that has really motivated us to work hard and raise money for the event.
“Normally, we wear all pink in memory of Mary Kay Greenwood (the mother of former UD player Maura Greenwood), but this year we wanted to incorporate all the cancers that have affected our lives.”
“My dad had cancer,” Reape added. “During the game, I thought about it a lot. It was very personal to us, and it was also a bonding experience.
“There are girls on the team that have family members who are struggling right now, and we were there supporting each other through the whole day.”
Dougherty’s grandmother also is battling ovarian cancer.
“I played Corners for Cancer for her and all the other people who have been fighting cancer,” the UD senior said. “While I was in the game, I just kept telling myself this game was for those who could not play.”
“This year’s Corners for Cancer was special to me,” Thompson added. “About a week before the event took place my grandfather died of cancer, so I played in his honor.”
The Corners for Cancer event – according to Boyer - is a significant part of her team’s experience.
“As a young coach, I was always driven by game results – what does the win-loss column say at the end of the season,” the Cardinals’ coach said. “As athletes, you’re competitive, and that’s what matters in the moment.
“As I’ve grown as a coach, I try to use this more as a platform – I’m obviously trying to teach the kids to win each time we take the field, but I’m also trying to teach them lessons that are so much more important than wins and losses and basic skills of field hockey.
“On this day, I always tell them – ‘You need to play inspired. Don’t play for the name on the front of your shirt, play for everybody who’s on the list of that honorary page, that memorial page who are battling a much bigger opponent.’ If you can’t be inspired on a day like that, then I don’t know how you could ever be inspired. The girls really get into it because, in the bigger picture, that’s what is important.
“The work ethic and enthusiasm they hold for hockey was also readily evident in how they ran with this project and how they made it so special.”
This year’s event was the eighth annual Corners for Cancer with over $50,000 raised for the National Foundation for Cancer Research during that span.
For good measure, the Flying Cardinals earned a 5-2 win over the Golden Bears.
“Every day our team goes out onto the field hungry for the win,” Dougherty said. “We want to win and we try hard and don’t give up until we reach our goals, and our Corners for Cancer event proved that. This team is without a doubt the best team to be a part of during my senior year. It’s amazing how close we all are and I can always count on those 29 girls.”
“I think we all have a lot of heart,” Siegel said. “We all really care about the game and seeing us come together for Corners for Cancer, that really motivated us to work hard and see how much we can accomplish if we all work together.
“I think that has definitely translated on the field, and we’ve worked at playing as a unit on the field, and that has really given us a lot of success.”
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