Farley O'Brien '23 Recruiting Profile

Players often talk about falling in love with their sport at a young age and building their skills as they get older.  In this way, my field hockey journey has been very unique.  I started playing as a field player in 7th grade, later than most girls who played in my middle school.  Despite not having much success as a team, I liked the girls and I enjoyed playing the sport.  Even though softball was my main sport at the time, I decided to continue playing field hockey in high school as a secondary sport.  However, it did not go as planned.  At the beginning of tryouts, the coaches informed us that we were short a goalie and needed someone, preferably a freshman, to step up and be the goalie for the freshman team.  Like the rest of the girls my age, I was comfortable as a field player and did not think I wanted to try the high-stress position.  However, after no one else stepped up, my head coach pulled me aside and asked if I could give it a try.  Even though I had no prior experience as a goalie, she told me that my natural athleticism would make me successful at the position.

Despite my initial reservations, I was eager to step up to help my team.  During my first days playing goalie, I quickly found that my coach was right.  Between my athleticism and experience as a catcher in softball, playing goalie came naturally to me.  I made varsity freshman year and, despite my lack of experience, I started and played the entirety of the first varsity game of the season, which ended in a shut-out in our favor.  Even as a freshman, I earned a lot of varsity playing time.  At first, the pressure of being goalie still bothered me.  But as my skills grew, I became more confident.  Instead of dreading break-aways and one-on-ones, I became eager for the chance to prove myself and help my team.  By my junior year, I had secured my spot as the only varsity goalie who saw field time out of the three goalies who dressed for varsity games, and I had fallen completely in love with the sport.  I love the thrill of such an important position, and I hope to continue playing in college.