Senior Mariel Little, the goalie, takes advantage of summer practices to brush up some skills and prepare for the new year.  Summer practices also help new players get their feet wet in the sport of field hockey. Photo by Jackie Barr.

The idea of practicing with other school teams would usually be thought of as putting strategies at risk, but team unity and game experience were definitely worth the risk for the field hockey teams. Field hockey coaches Denise Eachus of MVHS and Donna from Homestead High School organized joint practices throughout the summer for their players to help them ease into the new season and meet their teammates.

"I don’t think practicing with Homestead necessarily harmed us in any way because we didn’t actually share tactics or anything, but I do feel that [summer practices] could have been more beneficial,” goalie senior Mariel Little said. “We weren’t able to play as a whole [MVHS] team because we always mixed with the Homestead players.”

Summer practices took place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-8 p.m.on the HHS turf, which was a key factor in the improvement for some players.

"Instead of having to practice on bad grass and dirt, we were able to practice on their field, which was a really big plus," junior Christina Aguila said.

In addition, the teams also enjoyed the extra players to practice with. With more than half of the team missing at practices due to classes and summer vacations, the team needed the additional players to run an actual scrimmage game.

"It was a really good experience because guys, [HHS] players, and Donna’s club players were practicing with us too," Aguila said. "We got to see various different styles of playing that we can apply in our league season."

The risks they took at the beginning of summer paid off in the end, as the team brings new playing styles and new found experience into their new season.