VCU Field Hockey Club Wins National Field Hockey League’s 2nd Annual Challenge Cup
The VCU Field Hockey Club recently won the National Field Hockey League’s 2nd Annual Challenge Cup, held in Virginia Beach in November 2022. Seventeen teams from across the country competed. VCU competed against UNC Wilmington, West Virginia University, Towson University, and The College of New Jersey, and won in shootouts against University of Miami (2-1) in the Semifinals, and James Madison University (2-1) in the Championship.
The VCU Field Hockey Club is a competitive VCU Sport Club led by three officers: Sophia Volpe (President, Public Relations major, 4 years with the club), Jackie Taube (Vice President, Political Science major, 4 years with the club), and Eimy Alvarado (Biology major, 2 years with the club).
This win is a remarkable achievement for the VCU Field Hockey Club. It demonstrates the officers’ leadership, the team’s determination, and their commitment to winning.
According to Volpe, the team’s culture underwent an “interesting shift” this year, becoming more competitive. She noted the team’s “amazing potential” due to the influx of new students, who brought a new perspective and a shared priority of attending practices and games. This attitude, Volpe said, “became contagious throughout the season.”
Taube explained that the freshmen inspire her because they are “super-committed this year.” She also stated that the club planned to participate in the tournament at the start of the school year and “worked toward this tournament the entire semester. Every practice was with nationals in mind.”
Volpe said that the players’ mindset was to “just try to make it to the next day, let alone win the whole thing. We were not expecting that at all.” Taube said that the team has an “amazing goalie,” freshman Lynssi Joyce. Joyce had a complete shutout in the first four games. Senior Caroline Pullen scored the winning goal against JMU.
The officers have found that being a part of the VCU Field Hockey Club has provided them with a sense of community and support. Taube mentioned the importance of making friends from freshman year and how the team is always welcoming. Volpe mentioned the importance of sharing a common goal, “to see how far we could go.” Alvarado added that the Field Hockey Club provided her an outlet to make friends post-pandemic. She reflected, “I think that from being a freshman, especially post-pandemic, it was so hard to make friends. But field hockey made me feel like I had a different outlet other than school and it was just a lot of fun.”
Club leadership has enabled them to build relationships with their teammates and develop important skills that will help them both at VCU and in the future. Volpe noted that being club president is comparable to internships she has had. “I never realized how much work goes into this, whether it’s communicating with other teams to schedule games, communicating to get refs, dealing with invoices and payments, and scheduling.” Taube mentioned the importance of developing her communication and interpersonal skills. Alvarado noted that she has become more organized and has had the opportunity to make good decisions for the team.
We congratulate the VCU Field Hockey Club for their hard-earned victory in the National Field Hockey League’s 2nd Annual Challenge Cup. We look forward to their continued success as they compete in the next tournament in April 2023.
Categories Fall 2022 - Spring 2023