Senior Thao-Mi Nguyen playing defense. Photo taken by David Cartledge.
The Malden High School Field hockey team has started off their season with a record of 2-3-0.
The season is still early and varsity coach Samantha Souza states that the team is “hungry for a win so [she] expects to see that number go up soon.” The field hockey team has been practicing non-stop, and have been putting all their effort into the games.
Varsity captains Ashley Giang and Ketlyn Picinin have been the source of the teams spirit and encouragement. When interviewed, they both expressed what high hopes they have for the season and what their plan is to lead the field hockey team to success.
Giang states “[her] hopes this season is to improve [their] record from last year and to have more wins for both [junior varsity] and varsity.”
She and her team plan on improving their record by reflecting on their lows from last year, and working on them throughout the games and practices.
When asked about the teams lows last season, Giang said something they really want to work on is communication within the players. Giang believes that “this problem will be solved as [they] always encourage communication and talking throughout the game.”
Last year the field hockey team was able to improve their record and she believes that it “is the result of [them] practicing hard and having that drive to improve [themselves].
Varsity field hockey’s second captain Ketlyn Picinin has also contributed to the team’s success and the goals they’ve all been working on achieving. Picinin states “[her] role in the [field hockey] team has changed a lot compared to last year . . .” as “[she] has had to take on more responsibilities and help the team a lot more than [she] did before.”
Picinin also expressed that she wants to improve their record and bring home more wins in comparison to last year.
Picinin wants the team to enjoy their season and “just hopes for [them] to have a lot of fun this year and make the season count. [She] wants to lead them to victory by encouraging them as much as possible.”
Picinin and her teammates have been working very hard. She stated that the team has “improved [their] techniques a lot more, thanks to Coach Souza.”
Samantha Souza is not only a coach for Malden High School’s field hockey team, she is also a health teacher at the Salemwood for grades K-4, located here in Malden as well.
She states that she “loves coaching for Malden! [She] also teaches in the district so it’s one more thing that allows [her] to be part of this great community!”
Souza took over the team last year, and has described her time with the sport, and team as fun and very enjoyable.
Having a new coach step in took a bit of getting used to, however after the adjustment period Souza took no time in setting high expectations for her team.
“What [she] enjoys most is that [she] gets to share [her] passion and knowledge of the game with [her] players and encourage them to become the best athlete they can be.
When asked about goals for the season, coach Samantha Souza also expressed that she wants to continue to improve and beat last seasons records. However, her biggest goal is to make a name for the sport itself within the highschool.
Souza feels like “[they] are overlooked and need to make some noise!…[She] wants all of [her] players to be proud of themselves and see their growth!
Coach Samantha Souza, as well as varsity captains Ketlyn Picinin, and Ashley Giang all described the field hockey team with one constant word, “fun”
The team is described as being “very supportive of each other.” Ashley Giang states that being on the team that is Co-ed has led her to “meet some amazing people which causes [their] team to become a family.
Souza describes the team to be a really great group of kids. “They are kind and respectful” and that “[she] enjoys that [they] can work hard and also have fun!”
She also sees the bond within the team and how “they really support and care about one another”
It appears that the Malden High School Varsity Field Hockey team is heading for success and together they will all achieve their goals for the season.
