“A Highly Motivated Bunch”: Talawanda’s Field Hockey Team Remains Resilient in Its First Season as a Club Team

“A Highly Motivated Bunch”: Talawanda’s Field Hockey Team Remains Resilient in Its First Season as a Club Team

By Lily Franks

OXFORD, OH — The chilly fall weather is beginning to set in when the Talawanda Oxford field hockey club returns for their second home game of the season. Miami University’s field hockey field, tucked behind the familiar Millet Hall and Yager Stadium, is still wet with this morning’s rain. From the bleachers, spectators can see water flying from the turf in the wake of the players’ strides. 

This spring, Athletic Director Jake Richardson presented the elimination of field hockey as a proposal at the Board of Education’s April meeting, citing low participation, frequent coaching turnover, additional costs (“goals, paint, etc.”) as the primary reasons. 

Wendy Duvall was one of several parents and alumni who spoke during the meeting’s public comments portion. Duvall pointed to possible solutions, including support from Miami’s field hockey program and potential donors such as USA Field Hockey, the Ohio club program Field Hockey Life, and friends, families, and alumni. “If you could communicate with us about what costs need to be offset, we will roll up our sleeves and we will get to work. And in case you haven’t noticed, we are a highly motivated bunch,” Duvall said. 

Ultimately, though, the decision to eliminate field hockey as a school-sponsored OHSAA sport was finalized in May. According to Talawanda’s Athletic Director, Jake Richardson, field hockey wasn’t alone — Talawanda’s lacrosse team met the same fate in July. 

But tonight, the bleachers are alive with the enthusiastic cheers of parents, friends and siblings. “Get in there, get in there!” someone shouted from across the leaf-littered stands. The small but lively crowd erupted when, in the second quarter, senior Brianna Johnson scored a goal. 

Tonight’s audience has come prepared for the changing seasons, sporting jackets and sweatshirts. Elizabeth Walker, an alumni of Talawanda’s field hockey program, said the Talawanda field hockey hoodie she’s wearing tonight is a keepsake from high school. 

Elizabeth Walker, or “Betsy,” as most Oxfordians know her, played field hockey for Talawanda’s team from 1997-2001. Before then, she attended an Oxford Parks and Recreation-led clinic on Saturday mornings between 1992 and 1997. 

When asked about the highlights of these years, Walker listed the tougher, mundane parts of training — “the late night bus rides home from away games, the exhausting and impactful two-a-days, the endless hours of endurance training by running the mile square” — alongside impressive accolades. These included tournaments in St. Louis and Michigan, 48 career goals, playing on the Ohio team at the National Field Hockey Tournament hosted in West Palm Beach, Florida, and receiving First Team All Ohio — an honor only awarded to 21 athletes statewide per year. “I was very proud of my own accomplishments,” Walker said.

Walker said field hockey would always hold a special place in her heart: “I love to watch the current athletes play and I do my best to donate to and support the club team.”

Following the athletic department’s decision, Talawanda’s field hockey community quickly proved itself worthy of the “highly motivated bunch” title.

“So it was pretty complicated, right?” Duvall said after the game, as players dispersed into the adjacent parking lot. “We sort of had to start from scratch, figuring out what we had to do just from a logistical standpoint and from a legal standpoint… And, you know, anything from securing a place to practice and play to securing insurance [to] forming a board.”

Dotti Thacker, the mother of a sophomore on the team and an alumni of Talawanda’s field hockey program, chimed in: “this also meant getting a treasurer, a vice president, a president, and navigating fundraising.”

Duvall continued: “… securing our coach, navigating practice times because we’re sharing the field,” Duvall added. “There were just all those steps that had to happen for us, within a pretty short timeline, because we only found out — when was it, late April? — and we had our first game in August, so it was really not a lot of time to pull it all together.”

Fundraising efforts included organized sales, such as printing and selling t-shirts uptown during one of Oxford’s Thursday night Music in the Parks events in August, as well as asking for donations via Venmo and PayPal. Duvall said alumni were some of the biggest donors. 

“Between our fundraisers, and, you know, generous support from alumni and friends of the team, we’ve been able to make it work! And to keep our costs down. The kids are paying, like, $400? Versus, you know, Talawanda’s fee, which is $600, and we’ve been able to offer some scholarships and things like that. So we’ve been pretty happy about that.”

This year’s coach, Madison Workman, called the team’s transformation “a blessing in disguise.”

“I kind of feel like we’ve been able to go about it in a little bit of a different way,” Workman said. “We started from the ground, we kind of went back to basics, we taught everyone the basics of playing, the rules of playing, [and] we were able to really get good at the little things.”

“I think that we’ve improved a lot since the first time we were together in August. And I know the girls are having a blast, so. I think every day is fun, we’re learning, and I think that we’re just going to keep getting better as the season goes along.”

Madison Workman currently plays for Miami University’s field hockey team as a fifth year senior. Workman said her field hockey career took off when she was introduced to the sport in high school.

Workman then joined a club team that attended showcases across the country. Late in her senior year, she committed to Miami and started her first season in 2019.

This season marks Workman’s first as a coach for Talawanda’s team: the previous season, the position was held by Workman’s “best friend on the team,” Macy McHale. McHale now works in Chicago — “and then, last spring,” Workman said, “we figured out that I was gonna be able to coach the team this year!”

“And we’re super grateful,” Duvall responded. 

“So grateful,” Thacker added. 

In addition to Workman, Walker, Thacker and Duvall, juniors Margeret “Maddie” Stenger, Ysabella “Izzy” Anders, and Addison Hall weighed in, along with senior Morgan Sly. All four joined the team as freshmen. 

“For me, personally, I didn’t really wanna do gym, and my brothers told me the team sucked,” Hall said with a laugh. “So I joined because of [those] reasons.”

“I got cut from volleyball and Coach Holmes was in the parking lot,” Stenger explained, referencing the team’s former coach Janet Holmes, who retired following the 2021 season. “And she talked to my mother and she was like ‘If anyone gets cut, send them my way.’ And I had been cut. So I went there..” The girls laughed.

Anders, meanwhile, said that field hockey had an appeal that sets it apart from most high school sports: “Everyone starts new.” 

For that reason, Anders explained, “I thought it would be better than joining, I don’t know, another other sport?”

The other girls agreed. “Where you need more experience,” Hall said.

“And everyone’s been playing since like, first grade? Yeah,” Stenger added. 

“And like, there’s not a lot of like, pressure, and like, knowing everything, because we understand. Like new players aren’t going to know anything. We’ve been in that position, like when we started. And you don’t need to go out and provide a bunch of gear. Usually we can provide it,” Hall explained.

“It’s a good team dynamic because everyone realizes that like, try to not to get frustrated with new players, because again, you were like them, and you know what it’s like,” Sly said. 

Sly said that because everyone starts out new and learns together, the team seems to lack the hierarchical atmosphere that some other teams may have. 

“If you hear us on a field after the game, everyone’s congratulating each other, even if we lost, like, 9-0.” 

Hall agreed. “And it’s also like, the small accomplishments. Like when someone gets a stick save, or like, dodge, the whole team just hypes them up.” 

Overall, Hall said, .”.. we like being a club, I think, a lot more.”

“Just because we get to use actual field hockey turf, and it’s cheaper, and it’s just nice being that way.” Plus, Hall added, as a club team, the Brave can recruit from any school.

In addition, the Brave plan to increase exposure to the sport prior to high school with a program for middle schoolers. 

“If we keep going how it is, it’s going to become a bigger and bigger program,” Hall said. 

The team will return this month for their senior night. Those interested in supporting the Brave can do so by attending the game, which will take place at the Miami University Field Hockey Field on Wednesday, October 11th at 6 PM. Admission will be free of charge, with donations accepted at the gate. 

Brave Field Hockey at 2023 Talawanda Homecoming Parade.