“A Dream Come True” by Nicole Payette, 2nd Yr Pharm D

“A Dream Come True” by Nicole Payette, 2^nd Yr Pharm D  

 

This year, my dream of playing field hockey after I graduated high school came true. In high school I was extremely involved as a 3 sport varsity athlete and feared coming to college, especially the University of the Sciences, because I knew that they offered none of the sports I excelled at. Furthermore The Department of Campus Recreation did not offer any intramural sports that accommodated my interests or any club sports that almost every college or university offers to its students.  Upon joining the Student Recreational Committee (SRC) my freshman year, I learned with interest and fundraising that that I would be able to start playing field hockey again. I joined up with a fellow field hockey enthusiast and we began recruiting girls and held interest meetings.  We also learned through Jesse Phillips, Assistant Director of Campus Recreation we could join a legitimate national league, The National Field Hockey League (NFHL).  The NFHL allowed us to gain contacts of club field hockey teams throughout the tri-state area. With the support of the SRC, Marc Caserio (Director of Campus Recreation), and Jesse Philips, I was able to accomplish many things this past year.

 

    We had a terrific inaugural year, playing 1 game in the fall and 1 in the spring. We traveled to Drexel, Temple, and had a two game tournament scheduled at Rider with Temple, which was not played because of rain delays, and they were unable to reschedule. We held practices weekly at the field on 42^nd and Regent, which the Facilities Department worked with us to maintain and prepare. We also were able to purchase goalie equipment and a makeshift net we assembled each practice. The ladies enjoyed every minute of playing their sport again. Although we didn’t win both games, we did improve.

   

This past year has been amazing. The women and I were able to once again enjoy the sport we invested so much time in throughout our lives.  We look forward to a more organized season next fall with more games scheduled and an increased participation. We have learned so much from other teams in the NFHL and the NFHL has provided us with all the resources necessary to excel. We still have much to do, and not having any legitimate field facilities makes us depend on others for game scheduling. However, for now these are things we are willing to do without because we really are happy as long as we can play!