Senior Caitlyn Leonard prepping herself to receive the ball during a game. Photo by Jesaias Benitez.
Caitlyn Leonard is a senior in Malden High School and is in her fourth year as a member of the field hockey team.
This year, she is now one of the captains of the field hockey team. Leonard has been playing field hockey since she was in the sixth grade. Leonard participated in a camp that was coached by Deena Bello and has stuck with the sport ever since. She used to see her sister play and knew she wanted to continue to play when she got to high school.
Leonard said that she wanted to play field hockey because it has always interested her. Learning to play when she was younger and watching the high school girls play captivated her love and fascination for the game. Leonard has always looked up to the previous girls in field hockey as role models, especially her sister, former Blue & Gold Editor-in-Chief and captain of the field hockey team, Kristen Leonard, and she wanted to play and be just like them.
Now being part of the field hockey team, she hopes to be as same inspiration to younger generation girls as well as boys. Which is also a reason why she has decided to help out at camps that are held for younger field hockey players interested in the sport.
As a team captain she says that, “the team was prepared for this season and although [she] won’t be part of the team next year, [she knows] they will continue to work as hard as possible next year as well.” She had said everyone on the team had impressed her and showed great motivation to work hard, which is why they won a game this year.
Although the season has ended, she believes that some advice for next year is that “they need to improve on the communication, then the rest will fall into place.” Being a part of the field hockey team has made Leonard meet new people each year and create relationships with people that will last a long time.
Everyone on the team gets along so well and all of them have each others’ backs. Being a part of the team has made her realize how proud she is to have been one of the captains of the MHS field hockey team because the players MHS has are truly resilient.
Leonard noted that being captain of this team will be something she will “cherish for the rest of [her] life.” For the years coming, she believes that the team should continue to encourage each other, communicate on the field, and work hard because she knows this team is capable of tremendous things.
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