Speedy Sailors geared for year

Newport Harbor High’s field hockey team is looking to be faster and quicker this season, which is something that Coach Devon Kelly is very excited about.

This year’s team is very young with not a lot of experience after losing 12 players from last year’s squad that went 21-4-3 and won the Sunset League title. The Sailors finished third in the Los Angeles Field Hockey Assn. Tournament of Champions after losing to Harvard-Westlake in a semifinal that was decided on a shootout.

Of the 12 players gone, five earned first-team All-Sunset League honors and two were on the second team. Jessica Pizarek was named Most Valuable Goalie of the Sunset League. Hayley Ayres, Rachel Foster, Jackie Sanchez and Robin Ibbetson were first-teamers, while Clea O’Kieffe and Jessie Nix were on the second team.

But what they lose in experience, they have gained in speed and quickness.

This season is one that will have a different look to it being that there are only four returning players, all seniors and all players that Kelly feels comfortable playing at any position.

Kelly, the second-year coach, also has expectations from them.

“I expect them to bring leadership skills and I expect them to bring experience to every position. I expect them to keep the level of play really high and they need to bring high expectations to every game” Kelly said.

As an aggressive coach, she sees her seniors sharing these attributes at a different level.

There seems to be a thicker potency of experience and knowledge in these four players that Kelly says will play a big part in the team’s success.

“I would say their experience is huge because all four of them can play any position so they bring a different level of experience. For only four returners, they bring a high level of experience” she said.

The four returners are also the team’s key players.

Samantha Hill and Katy Storch bring leadership as the teams captains, Shannon Rohan brings varsity experience and Claire Josephson is tagged as being an all-around player.

“[She] is quiet but she runs the game very well,” Kelly said of Josephson. “She has really strong stick skills and I could put her at a literally any position.”

For the newcomers, expectations to perform are just as high.

Although the team is loaded with younger players who are excited to be on varsity, they are anxious, aggressive and are ready to play the game. Already the Sailors are 6-1-1. They lost their first game Tuesday, 2-0, at Bonita, but rebounded with a 5-0 win over Westminster Thursday.

Kelly says this group brings a lot of team speed, which she is very excited about, and very strong stick skills and the ability to move the stick quickly.

“I haven’t had speed like this in a while,” Kelly said. “Speed is a big deal for me. You get the ball and you pass the ball. You don’t get the ball and dribble the ball. You get the ball and pass it.”

With a lot of the players having backgrounds in soccer, they understand the game and are focusing on fine tuning their skills for field hockey which Kelly feels confident they will do.

Kelly also wants her team to play consistently all season which is something that they work on and something they take pride in.

Kelly feels that they have a a strong team and a team that should be fun to watch.

“It’s going to be a great season” she said.