EMAIL THIS PAGE

A Day In the Life: American University Field Hockey
AU Eagles take no short cuts before, during or after practice

The American University field hockey team works on its footwork.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Erin Silliman, a junior on the American University field hockey team, explained to me how the rest of the world views her sleeping habits.

"Last season after I had surgery, I used to go into The Eagles Nest before practice for hot chocolate in scrubs and a t-shirt and one day one of the women (working) said, 'So you must be a nurse, that's why you are in here so early every morning.'"

Silliman laughs, standing in the cold rain one Wednesday morning practice. The music major explained that she was still an undergrad, but was also a member of the university's field hockey team.

For the last four years, the Eagles have taken vans to the University of Maryland's practice turf field at 6 a.m. for their own practice because there is no turf on the Eagles' campus. While the university is currently working on installing turf for next fall, AU will continue to host home games at the University of Maryland. This becomes interesting on days like Nov. 3 when the Eagles actually play the Terrapins but will be considered the visiting team.

It's still dark at 6:05 a.m. when I board a van and venture out to practice with the team one late October morning. Fortunately, I had a wake-up call at 5:42 a.m. from one of the field hockey assistant coaches who wanted to make sure I was still up for the challenge. To compare my one early morning out of the hundreds seniors Kate Finn and Magdalena Aguilar have risen themselves out of bed, the sacrifice was no great feat on my end.

"You should have come last week before daylight savings when we couldn't see the girls warm up across the field," said assistant coach and voice of my wake up call, Britt D'Augustine, as I settled into the passenger seat of her van.

Beating rush hour traffic on our drive down 495, the girls in my van talked about which of the three vans let them sleep the longest and which of the coaches always woke up the dozers at the Seven-11 (Head Coach Steve Jennings allotted the most sleep while assistant Sarah Thorn took her cue at the convenience store, one of the few places open that they drive by at that time of day).

While the players warmed up, I joined Jennings, Thorn and D'Augustine in one of their daily competitions of putt-putt, a golf game played with field hockey sticks and balls. On this day we had to hit the ball up the fairway/field ramp, onto the field, around the cage and hit a cage tire on the far side. Clearly the usual early birds had the advantage as Jennings eagled, Thorn birdied and D'Augustine and myself paid for our poor tee-offs.

The team was warmed up and ready by the time we finished the first hole and I mingled from offense to defense and then with athletic trainer Carolynn Salsburg, who has dutifully joined the team for two straight years. Salsburg is up at 4 a.m. to prepare the training room for the injured players who roll in at 5 a.m. For the last couple of weeks, she has spent practice rehabilitating freshman Tiann Smith, who injured her knee.

"I prefer the morning practice and I think it's good for the team because they just have homework after classes and don't have to worry about anything else," said Salsburg as she counted down the seconds on a fast-foot exercise for Smith.

At one point during a two-on-one drill, Aguilar asked freshman Maureen Daniel what time it was. The two were catching their breath and waiting to have another go at the defense.

Daniel replied, "You can tell how late it is by how many cars there are in the parking lot."

Looking up, the UM campus parking lot that had less than 10 cars parked when we first arrived was now bustling with several hundred as building lights flashed on and the smooth noise of balls connecting with sticks was drowned out by the traffic. The transition had been seamless, though, as the team's focus was still field hockey.

Clearly, it's a certain type of student-athlete who has the commitment to get up hours before the rest of their fellow students and practice every single day. For a team working towards a berth into the Patriot League Championships next weekend and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, it's worth it.

"A lot is made of the sacrifices that we make in order to play or involve ourselves with the sport that we love," says Jennings. "Obviously, one side of the issue is how disadvantaged we are in comparison to other programs. The flipside is that through this dedication, we are given a gift.

"The team, coaches, trainer -- all of us know that we do things that others won't, that we rise while most rest, that we care about each other like family and that we will have for the rest of our lives this inner pride and strength that will fortify us even in the harshest of times," Jennings continued. "These are the lessons you can't get in the classroom."

-- Kathleen Ralls, AU Athletic Communications Assistant and field hockey enthusiast.