(Photo taken from www.skidmoreathletics.com)
Starting field hockey in the third grade, Sarah Winters 21’ has always considered the sport a big part of her life. Originally an ice hockey player, Winters decided to switch the ice for the field, as there were more opportunities to play in the Saratoga area, where she is from. Winters knew she wanted to play at the collegiate level because of her immediate love for the sport. Now a senior on the Skidmore Field Hockey team, Winters reflects on her experience playing at Skidmore and how the pandemic changed her senior season.
During her first year on the team, Winters proved herself to be a standout freshman. Starting in all 21 games and ending second on the team in terms of goals, Winters earned a place on the Zag Sports/NFHCA National Academic Squad, Liberty League Co-Rookie of the Year, All-Liberty League Honorable Mention, and Liberty League Rookie of the Week several times.
Although sustaining an injury her sophomore year, Winters continued her strong first season into her sophomore and junior seasons, earning places on the Liberty League All-Academic Team, 2019 All-Liberty League First Team, and Liberty League Honor Roll.
One of the reasons she wanted to play in college was to raise the level of competition and grow as a player. Now, during her senior season, Winters has to deal with playing field hockey during a pandemic. She describes how difficult the return back to the field was with the new protocols, and how her team rose to the occasion.
“As a team we were very eager to keep everyone safe and do whatever it took to do so. We also recognized how lucky we were to have the opportunity to practice even though it was vastly different. This season was a lesson for us to appreciate the little things.”
This mindset was important to Winters, especially because this is her second year being a captain. To her, being a captain means putting her teammates first and always looking out for what is best for them.
“With the current pandemic, we [the captains] really enforced safety protocols of practicing social distancing. We didn't want any of our team members or other members of the Skidmore community to be negatively impacted by our decisions.”
When asked how she felt about not being able to compete her senior year, Winters responded “it definitely hurts to not be competing for my senior fall season. Although I will say that looking back on the experiences of this current fall season, we have had so many opportunities for growth.”
She continues, “without games this season, we have been able to spend so much more time working on and perfecting our skills. I am so proud of my team and the growth we have made this fall.”
As for her plans for after graduation, the education major and health and human physiological science minor, isn’t entirely sure what her next move is, “I might start teaching right away or I might go on to get my masters and potentially play field hockey there. No matter what I do though, I will definitely keep up with the sport by playing in local leagues and one day hope to coach at the school I teach at!”