Senior Madisen Vongnakhon doesn’t think of herself as a leader on the field — the idea of other players looking up to her still baffles her. As an experienced player, she just tries to offer support and positivity to her teammates. 

Having just completed her fourth season of field hockey as an offensive midfielder, Vong believes her strengths are offensive drives. Upon reflection, Vong says her weakness is being unable to move past a bad game or poor performance on her part.

“When we lose or something, I get frustrated and don’t let it go as easily,” Vong said. “It just stays inside me internally — I just don’t let it go. Other people can just shake it off but it takes me a while, usually a day.”

While Vong does value strategy, she believes that it is ultimately the team dynamic that convinces a player to dedicate themselves to the sport. This was true for her when she first joined field hockey, which is why she says she makes an active effort to build team relationships.

“I love field hockey because of the people,” Vongnakhon said. “When I go to practice everyday, it just makes me happy and I stop feeling worried. [People stay] if it’s a positive and supportive family that just wants to be there to support each other.”