Ashley Kelly '21 Recruiting Profile

For a good part of my life, I thought soccer was my sport. I had played it for 10 years on a high level travel team throughout my middle school life. However, starting sixth grade I wanted to play a different school sport in order to expand my boundaries. This is where I discovered field hockey. My middle school team needed a goalkeeper, and there I found my dream position. I played as a starter throughout middle school and eventually quit soccer to pursue hockey. When I graduated to high school, the head coach saw my potential early on in my freshman year and recruited me to travel with the varsity team. Although I didn't play much, it was such a great learning experience for me as I got to watch the older girls play and learn through them. I think that's something that helped me throughout my career; I had a lot of opportunities to learn and grow from older role models. One of these role models includes my aunt, who is another field hockey coach and helped me get better at my game. From here, I earned the role of a starter on my varsity team for my sophomore and junior year, going as far as winning "goalkeeper of the year" in suffolk county, long island my junior year (aside from other league awards). Throughout my career, I faced many shots as well, which only developed my skill. Besides my skill, I think I owe a large part of my successes to my determination and drive. I go into every game with the desire to win and do everything I can to stop a shot. This competitiveness inside me will keep me going throughout any game. In college, I'm looking for a program that will challenge me academically and athletically. I want to continue working on my skills throughout college as I believe no one is perfect. But I will do anything I can to get as close to perfection as possible, which I believe would make me a great addition to a college team!