Recently, I had the chance to meet up some of the girls on Iowa’s field hockey team to see what they think about being a girl the Hawkeye sports world.
Sara Watro and Dani Hemeon are both seniors here at the University of Iowa and have been playing on the field hockey team since their freshman year. Both girls have been playing field hockey since they were young and had nothing but awesome things to say about the sport and being able to play on the University’s team.
To begin, I asked the girls to really explain to me what field hockey is.
The field hockey season starts in August and goes through Thanksgiving break. The girls explained how field hockey is a lot like soccer, using similar positions and tactics. The game basically consists of five things you can’t play without: players, field hockey sticks, a small ball, whistles and a lot of rules. Each game lasts 70 minutes and consists of two halfs. If you ever want to check out a game, you can find the dates and times on their website.
I then asked the girls if they enjoyed being a part of Iowa’s athletic program, to which they each quickly replied, “YES!”.
Iowa has a great athletics program that gives it’s athletes wonderful opportunities. Both Sara and Dani are on athletic scholarships that they said has opened the door for wonderful experiences here at Iowa. They were both able to continue playing a sport they love, use amazing training facilities and receive a degree from the university.
I wondered, though, if it was ever hard being a girl in the sports world at Iowa.
According to the girls, Iowa does a really good job at keeping things equal between men and women in the sports world. Even though field hockey isn’t a very popular sport in the Midwest, it still receives a lot of support, both from the university and from the community.
I asked Dani and Sara what their favorite part of field hockey at the university was and they each had extremely positive responses.
Dani said it was great being able to start college with friends. Because the season starts in August, the girls all came to Iowa before the beginning of the semester and the team became a close group of friends before the school year even started. Sara said her favorite part was the life skills that field hockey here at Iowa has taught her. She said she has gained invaluable skills in preparation, planning, time management and communication.
Both girls also agreed that field hockey has opened the door for opportunities to be role models for kids in the community. They love encouraging kids to be active and to get involved with sports. At one of their recent games, they had the chance to have a University of Iowa Kid Captain come and sing the National Anthem. It’s little things like that, they said, that makes the biggest impact.
Finally, I asked if there was anything about field hockey that makes it hard, and this was all Dani had to say.
“Field hockey is a hard struggle, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. The benefits outweigh the struggles.”
It’s clear to see that the University of Iowa Women’s Field Hockey team is a group of strong, passionate and independent women that have become a family through the love of this amazing sport.
Be sure to check out one of Dani and Sara’s games before the season ends!