By Madden Albert ’25
Orientation week was hectic for everyone around the Frederick Gunn School campus, but especially for the Field Hockey team. They were the only fall sports team that traveled to a playday as part of their tryouts.
On Saturday, September 7th, the Frederick Gunn School’s field hockey team traveled to Wallingford, Connecticut, to another boarding school in the area, Choate Rosemary Hall. This was an important time for the field hockey team as it was part of their tryouts, and everyone tried to make the team. There, they faced their all-time rival, Canterbury, as well as Greens Farms Academy, Suffield Academy, and Choate Rosemary Hall.
These games consisted of fifteen-minute quarter-field games. The girls have seen Greens Farms before, as they battled against them in the NEPSAC quarter-finals last year. The Highlanders tied three of their games and, after a hard-fought game, lost to GFA. The girls have 19 games this season and will face most of these schools again, hoping to come out victorious.
The first game was at 3 pm against rivals Canterbury. The game was evenly matched, with both teams getting scoring chances, although the score ended in a 0-0 tie. For the second game, the girls faced off against Greens Farms Academy. They were going to be a tough opponent as they were the team who knocked them out of the NEPSAC playoffs during the 2023 season. Just as the Gunn team suspected, GF came off their bench ready to go, ultimately taking a victory. After the first two games, the team had a break for 15 minutes to catch our breaths while the other teams faced off against each other. Coach Leblanc and Coach Paulekas got to talk about the game plan, and then we were back on the turf for games 3 and 4. The next opponents were Suffield Academy and the host school Choate. To the Gunn girl’s surprise, both matches even resulted in another two ties, which ended the day with three ties and a loss. As the season kicks off, the girl’s field hockey team is excited to see what may happen next.
This year’s captains, Megan Sladish and Poppy Kellogg, enjoyed their final Choate scrimmage day as seniors. “Overall, it was a great day of field hockey, which we had been looking forward to since our first day back on the turf. Everyone has put in so much effort already, and it’s only the first week. I am excited to see where our season goes from here,” said senior captain Megan Sladish ‘25. Poppy Kellogg’ 25, also shared, “It was a great way to start off the season! Everyone has already improved so much, and I am so excited to see what is to come for the field hockey team this year!”
Choate Play Day is a very important event for the field hockey team, as it is their first scrimmage of the season and the girls begin to mesh with the new faces on the team. As a team, the girls take many team trips to help them come together as a team. These trips help them on and off the field, but especially in trusting and communicating with one another in games. They will continue this tradition as the season goes on!
