Area youths participate in a recent field hockey camp. (Submitted photos)
HOLYOKE – The growth of field hockey among the local circuits in the Whip City is evident.
More than a dozen youths from Westfield and Southwick joined close to another 100 campers from across Massachusetts and Vermont to participate in a field hockey camp recently at Roberts Sports Complex at Holyoke High. The camp offered specific training for field hockey players and goal keepers and featured drills to improve practice skills and game situation awareness, as well as game play.
“Westfield has grown their youth program and we have seen that reflected in the quality of players that come to camp from the Westfield youth and high school programs,” said camp director Pete Leclerc. “We are so glad they are working to improve their field hockey game.
The Premier Performance Camp was conducted by the Holyoke Parks and Recreation under the direction of Leclerc and Jaime Ginsberg, field hockey coach at Smith College and owner of the Nomads Field Hockey Club.
Ginsberg is also a USA Field Hockey U16 National Champion coach for the futures program.
One of the reasons that our camp has grown into one of, if not the largest, field hockey day camps in the state is because of our staff,” Leclerc said. “In addition to Jaime, our lead coach is Jessica Bergen, the head field hockey coach at Westfield State. Of the 10 coaches we had at camp, there is also Westfield’s own Courtney Williams.”
Williams is currently the field hockey captain at American International College.
“Courtney is not only a great player and teammate, she is a natural coach,” Leclerc said.
One local parent, Sherry Otero, expressed her support for the camp. “It’s just such a great camp she said.”
Sherry’s two children, Desireee, 16, and Marissa, 14, attended the camp to sharpen their skills for the upcoming Westfield High fall field hockey season.
“The weather was well into the high 90s, but that didn’t stop their determination and thirst for the game,” said Sherry, who noted the 110-degree turf-level temperature reading. “If you ask any one of these girls who attended, they didn’t feel the weather because of their love of the game. …They will tell you (it was) awesome, great, fun, the best week of the summer.”
