Sarita Arsham '20 Recruiting Profile

Field hockey has been my favorite sport ever since I started playing in 6th grade. although I've been playing for 7 years I didn't truly fall in love with the sport until sophomore year. Unfortunately, I believe this is because I had been playing the wrong position for most of my career. Sophomore year we got a new head coach. She played in college so this was new to our team since we had never had a coach that played in college before. I immediately could tell that she knew what she was doing and I knew that she was going to get our team far. During practice as she was watching me, she came up to me and asked if I had ever played defense before (at the time I was playing midfield). I said no and I had never even thought of the idea of myself playing anything but midfield. She told me that she was going to see how I'd do as a defender but to make sure I was open-minded. From then on I was a defender and as I excelled I knew and everyone else knew that this was my position that I was meant to have. I always felt as if I never had my moment to shine before I was a defender and I always felt that I was always going to be less than most of the older players. This soon changed. I became a starting center defender during my sophomore year. As a defender, I was gifted with a defensive mind and I somehow know where the ball is always going to go, helping my goalie to just practically sit back and relax. Not many people praise defenders like they do goal scorers, so when my new coach junior year told me on the day we won state that I was runner up to getting the MVP award--that was given to a senior--I knew that field hockey was my home to shine. Field hockey is not just a sport or hobby for me. Instead, it's a lifestyle. Something that I can't live without. Being a part of a team and that team becoming a family and that family getting through losses and cherishing wins is what I live for and look forward to each season of it the day after each field hockey season ends. I strive to improve my skills every day in practice and promise to be one of the best defenders that any team needs.