In the afterglow of the field hockey ECAC Championship game, we were congratulated by our fellow athletes as well as the PSU community. It felt incredible. We were champions, and no one could take that from us. There’s nothing better than ending the season with a win, and our season was largely considered as a success because of the trophy. It was considered a success by everyone, except for us.
Every season, the goal is the same; win the Little East Conference Championships and go to the NCAA tournament. That has been the goal long before I stepped on the field as a Panther and it is apparent in everything we do. This team breathes success. Success is a long-standing PSU Field Hockey tradition, and not one our coaches plan on breaking anytime soon.
There is a certain level of expectation for each of us every time we pick up a stick, get on the baseline, or sit in the locker room. There is an expectation for us to not only succeed, but improve. We are expected to get better every single day, both as a unit and individuals. We have our off days, like every team. I’m not saying we’re perfect by any means, but it is our commitment to our field hockey family and love for the game that makes us unwilling to accept defeat. We refuse to let ourselves down, and above all else, we refuse to let each other down.
Even as we’re in the midst of our off-season, that sense of commitment never leaves us. It is always in the back of our minds, as we prepare for next fall. In terms of off-season training, I think our team has one of the least organized programs. I wouldn’t even say that we have much of a program at all, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not preparing.
Begining in March, we usually meet for a captain’s practice once a week and lifting a couple times per week. However, our coach is not one to babysit us to make sure we’re staying on track. Instead, she gives us that expectation of success. This leaves most of the off-season training up to each of us individually. We work in the off-season to improve ourselves for the benefit of our teammates. It isn’t a planned regimen that keeps us motivated, but our commitment to one another.
Of course, there are other motivating factors, and they differ between each of us. We all have personal goals, and our in-season positions are highly competitive. That competition with each other gives every one of us the motivation to improve ourselves in order to get stronger, faster, more playing time, or to score more goals. Competition and the drive for improvement inspires our personal goals, but all those pale in comparison to our desire to make ourselves better for the benefit of the team as a whole.
We strive to be the best. We know it isn’t easy. We’ve improved, struggled, succeeded, and failed trying to get there, and we will continue to do so. We fight against ourselves for the glory that is success. Success is never sweeter than when it is shared among a team who sacrifices for the game and the family they love more than anything.
Whether it is the off-season, pre-season, regular season, or playoffs, we train to be successful because it is the only way we know how. We train to improve because we have the strongest motivator imaginable: passion.