Fact or Fiction: J-D Field Hockey?

J-DHS offers athletes soccer, basketball, cross country, swimming, tennis, golf, football, track, softball, baseball, lacrosse, gymnastics, ice hockey, volleyball, wrestling and cheerleading. What could possibly be missing?
The answer: field hockey.

Field hockey is a fall sport currently offered at 38 high schools in Section III. Nearby districts that offer it include Auburn, Baldwinsville, Cicero North Syracuse, Fayetteville-Manlius, Liverpool, Rome Free Academy, Watertown, Camden, Oneida, Whitesboro, Cato-Meridian, Cortland, Port Byron, Cazenovia, Homer, and Weedsport.
J-DHS has never offered field hockey. It wasn't until recently this year that a number of students began to show interest in it. But will it actually happen? Will J-DHS have a field hockey team someday?

Two interested students are sophomore Sonia Narsipur and junior Sarah Wood. "My mom used to play and she got me interested," Narsipur says. Currently Narsipur plays tennis, volleyball, and lacrosse at school. She thinks that field hockey needs to be added saying, "If you get cut from a sport and you're not really good at other sports it's a good thing to try."

Wood also became interested through a family connection, "My cousin in Maine played all four years of high school and loved it. Believe it or not, I'd been wishing our school offered a field hockey team for a while now but never thought much of it until Sonia presented the idea," Wood says. She currently plays lacrosse in the spring and says if we ever do have a field hockey team she will play. "I think we need to introduce girls field hockey because it'll add some variety and new opportunities for girls that are thinking it's too late to start a sport in high school," Wood says.

This interest has spread to other sport teams and grades. "A lot of the girls on my lacrosse team that are currently sophomores and juniors were really excited about it and said they had been wanting to play and would play if it was offered at our school. Also, I talked to a lot of the senior girls and told them about it and they were all jealous that we were starting once they left our high school," Wood said. She even added that she knows of several teachers that have played in the past, including J-DHS chorus teacher, Beth Quackenbush, and Tracy Parker, a social studies teacher at J-D Middle School.

One member of Wood and Narsipur's lacrosse team that shares their interest is J-DHS sophomore Kathleen Sheedy. "I don't play a fall sport and I want to, so this gives me another option," she says. Sheedy also believes girls need another fall sport option. She says her interest came from being informed by Narsipur, but she's never played before.

Another interested student is J-DHS junior Emma Esposito. She agrees with Sheedy, that the addition of another sport is needed. Although she plays soccer in the fall she would switch if given the opportunity. Esposito, like others, said knowing others who played, sparked her interest and says, "It seems like a fun sport to play."

J-DHS freshman Olivia Jasinski currently plays soccer, volleyball and lacrosse, but is still interested in field hockey. "We've never had it before and it's a new change," she said. After hearing the announcement a few months ago she decided she wanted to try something new and said, "I'd like to try it and see if I'm good at it because I like to play lots of sports."

There are also some students who are already dedicated to one sport and aren't looking to switch anytime soon. J-DHS junior Katie Murphy says, "I might (play), but then again I might not because it would be my senior year and I want to finish cross country because I've been doing that." Even though Murphy's not sure if she would play she would be supportive of the addition, "I think we should have it because it's another sport for girls in the fall. It's interesting and I'd go watch." J-DHS sophomore Mina Huckins thinks similarly to Murphy; she says she would possibly play although she might rather stick with soccer or do swimming instead. But like Murphy, Huckins is supportive of the addition; "I think we should have it because if people don't play soccer they basically just have endurance sports so they need another option that's not just endurance."
After all of this talk of a team the real question is whether or not it will actually happen. Students are optimistic. "I hope so," says Narsipur. And Esposito believes that if enough people are interested it will be offered.

Despite all of this interest Athletic Director Bill Brown says there are numerous factors that prevent J-DHS from offering field hockey. One factor would be the timing of its season. "The issue that makes it hard is field hockey is a fall sport, the season in which we already have the most offerings for girls of any other season," Mr. Brown says. Another major factor is money. "Right now in this time of less money available and projected budget cuts, I'm more concerned with keeping what we have," he says.

It seems there's no need yet for seniors to be jealous that they weren't here for the addition. "We have no plans to start field hockey. We only hear of interest now and then from individuals, certainly not enough to consider a team," he says. When asked if he had heard of this recent interest Mr. Brown said, "This is all news to me. Nobody has approached me."

However Narsipur has formed a list of interested students. "We're still getting more interest. We already have 30 people, but we're looking for about 40 and then we'll send a letter to Bill Brown."

Some students worry that although they're interested in the sport, they've never played, as it is not offered in physical education class, and don't really know how to. If you are truly interested Narsipur suggests going to camps over the summer and says that she'll be attending one this year. She adds that even going to watch other games, like at Syracuse University, could help.

"I think it'll eventually happen, maybe not as soon as we'd like, though, and I say that because we're just introducing it now and it will probably take people a little time to warm up to fully consider," Wood said. After being informed of the doubts in the athletic department of whether field hockey is even a possibility, Wood said, "I'd keep trying. I don't blame him for saying no right now because we don't have a lot of support to back it up - but we will!"
Although there may not be plans for it currently that doesn't mean interest is not welcome. "There will be more information about it, like a meeting to see if there really are the numbers interested in playing," Wood says.

Despite the rise in interest, until a proposal is brought to the athletic department the fate of field hockey at J-DHS will remain unknown.