In the 2024-25 school year, Archie Williams premiered the school’s first junior varsity (JV) field hockey team. Welcoming any players new to the sport, new students looked to try something new and become part of a positive and active community.
During varsity field hockey’s off-season, returning coaches and players began an informal recruiting process, inviting incoming students to Archie Williams field hockey tryouts. The advertising brought a drastic increase in the number of players trying out, leading to the Archie Williams coaches forming both a JV and varsity team for the first time.
Sophomore varsity player Sophie Macdonald took part in recruiting potential new players.
“We did a good job of reaching out to the freshmen, being like, ‘This is a really fun sport to do, and you should join it,’” Sophie said.
Freshman JV team member Mia Favetti participated in tryouts, joining the sport as a means of making new friends and learning a new sport.
“[I was interested in] trying new things and meeting new people… For everyone, it is their very first [year],” Mia said.
The JV team is made up of almost entirely new players, creating a need for more in-depth and rigorous extra training, which both the varsity and JV teams do together. Sophie believes that improving stamina and strength is extremely beneficial for the new players.
“We’re doing a lot more running and a lot more drills on our offense, which I think is making us a stronger team, and I think that this season we do have a chance of beating opponents,” Sophie said.
New Archie Williams JV girls field hockey coach Trina Hefter was the assistant coach for the varsity team last year. With hopes to grow the program, Hefter hosted a summer camp for possible new players to develop the skills needed to play.
“JV’s done an amazing job, because most of them [hadn’t] played before [this summer]… They’ve done an incredible job just building skills like dribbling, passing, talking to each other, and learning the rules which are complicated,” Hefter said.
Hefter worked closely with Falcons varsity girls field hockey head coach Michelle Boutwell last season, both with the goal of growing the program. Boutwell encourages the varsity and JV teams training togehter, as she believes it develops better communication on the field, and the community as a whole.
“We’re focused on growing as a team, developing skills, and working on team playing instead of individuals on the field,” Michelle said.
Although freshmen make up the majority of the JV team, one freshman player ended up moving up to the varsity team. Sienna McCollum began on the JV team but moved up during the season because of her skill level. She feels that the new team brings a new atmosphere of excitement and positivity for the growing sport.
“I had about a week of experience [on the JV team]… I love being on the field hockey team. It’s such a great community, and I’m very happy to be here,” Sienna said.
The JV team played their most successful game of the season against Lick Wilmerding High School Sept. 11, with the end score 0-0. Despite losing the rest of their games, this feat for the JV team set an optimistic tone for the season. Boutwell believes the greatest strength of the team was the community they built.
“We love each other. [We’re all] BFFs, now as a result of this team, that’s true.” Boutwell said.
