by Maris Laughton
The lights shine bright on the dew covered field as field hockey goalie and captain Kelly Young steps into her net, her home away from home. With her body covered in protective pads and her stick in her hand, she takes one final breath. She sees her team in front of her, and now she is ready. As the whistle blows for the start of the game, everything Young has learned is put to the test.
Young started off as a midfielder on the 8th grade field hockey team. Her freshman year, there was no goalie for the JV team, and Coach Marybeth Ryan had a feeling Young would be good at it. She stepped up to take over the position. Transitioning from midfielder to goalie is a challenge, and at first she was not thrilled about it.
“Something about getting balls drilled at you isn’t desirable,” says Young. “But once it happens a couple times, you get used to it.”
Though she was reluctant at first, Young has worked hard over the past four years to become a more confident and skilled goalie, and her efforts show during each game. Out of the goalies reported in Mid-wach B, Young has the most saves so far this season at 115. She made over 30 saves in the first game of this season, and 41 saves in the following game against Algonquin.
“I wasn’t surprised when Kelly made that many saves in our first two games. She is constantly demonstrating her advanced skill level, and we would be murdered every game if we didn’t have her in our net,” says teammate Alex Schley.
Young is a leader on and off the field, but she becomes a completely different person in the net. She is normally quiet and reserved, but on the field Young is loud and in charge. She is not afraid to tell her teammates who to cover or where to be in the circle. She alerts them where the ball is, when they are in her way, and when they should have their sticks down. Young knows how to quickly analyze the situation and tell the team how to handle it.
“The true definition of a leader is someone who leads their team into battle, and that’s exactly what Kelly does,” says Schley.
Being goalie is a high stress job as Young must keep an eye on the ball and prevent it from going in the net while she has a cluster of girls in front of her both trying to clear the ball out of the circle and score.
“It gets me mad whenever goals go in because I have one job, and if I don’t do that job it will make or break the game,” says Young.
Though Young gets frustrated at herself for making mistakes, she manages to not get upset at her teammates and still have a smile on her face. She has a great sense of humor, and if any teammates make a mistake she tells them to shake it off and that they will get it next time.
“Even if Kelly is having a bad day she still manages to keep everyone else in a good mood,” says teammate Nicole Beaulieu. “She makes jokes during games and keeps the energy positive. She also sings to herself sometimes, which is hysterical.”
When the team played Nashoba for the second time last season, it was the last game of the season. The girls put up a tremendous fight and held the score at 0-0.
“It was a triumphant way to end the season!” says Coach Jennifer Wallingford.
“I was excited that we held our own against a team that we didn’t have much success against earlier in the season. I can really just remember that feeling of pride raging through the whole team and giving us unbelievable excitement!” says Young.
So what does the future hold for Young?
“I’m not completely sure if I want to play in college. I know I will definitely miss it, but I think I’ll miss playing with my team more than I will miss playing the sport. If I do end up playing, it won’t be the same on that field without my team.”
