This past Saturday, swept up in a mix of excitement and nerves, the JV field hockey team stepped onto our home turf to play a real live opponent — first game since Choate Day 2019. It’s been a minute! The 0-0 tie against Berkshire (a team that, in recent years, we’ve lost to) does not fully capture our girls’ energetic teamwork, accurate passes and shots on-goal, the intense mid-September heat, or our sense of collective accomplishment. The day felt like a win. We’ve decided this year because of numbers (our roster tops out at 26!) to divide the team into three sub-teams, such that each sub-team plays in 8 of our 12 games (including both Family Weekend and Choate Day), making allowances for injuries and illness, potential off-campus or precluding obligations, and family attending a given game. A complicated calculus, but one that allows us to make sure everyone plays in as equitable a way as possible. So, with a bench five players deep, we took on Berkshire. Highlights include some incredibly consistent passing up the field between the middies and forwards — notably between Charlotte Steffensen ‘25 and Jo Louis ‘23; clutch saves in both halves by our two goalies, Ashley LaBrucherie ‘23 and Juliet Amadeo ‘24; and predictably great defensive work by senior Captain Tioba Akinjaiyeju ‘22. We’re super excited for this season!