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Game Recap

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Game Recap from the Daily Pilot:

High School Roundup: Newport Harbor opens season with tie
Smethurst leads defense with four saves, as Sailors’ field hockey team settles for scoreless tie against Harvard Westlake.
Click here for Daily Pilot Photo Gallery.

The Newport Harbor High field hockey team began its quest for a fifth straight season-ending championship with a scoreless tie against Harvard Westlake Tuesday at Davidson field.

The action went back and forth, but both defenses and goalies held strong throughout the game.

Harvard Westlake had four shots on goal, while the Sailors had three shots on goal.

Cailynn Smethurst had a great game in goal and made four strong saves, said Newport Harbor Coach Amanday Boyer, whose Sailors have won four straight Los Angeles Field Hockey Assn. Tournament of Champions titles. Midfielders Jill Messersmith and Jordan Blanchfield played well, while Jane Layton, Hannah Vigil and Alex Salai made key contributions on defense, Boyer said.

“The team had a really strong game,” Boyer said. “We have some things to work on but overall it was a game they should be proud to kick off their season with.”

The Sailors play at Bonita Thursday.


Junior Varsity fell to Harvard Westlake 1-3 with a goal by Elizabeth Muenchow. Frosh/Soph traveled to Marina High School and won 1-0 with a goal by Jessica Stone.

2012 Varsity Preview

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Thanks to Daily Pilot Sports Editor Steve Virgen for his article about the Varsity team in today’s Daily Pilot.

Tars’ goal: strive for five
Newport Harbor field hockey team intensifies work after winning four straight Tournament of Champions crowns.

By Steve Virgen
September 3, 2012

For the past two weeks, the Newport Harbor High field hockey team has been preparing for the season with two-a-days.

The Newport girls went through rigorous conditioning in the morning and worked on technique and team aspects in the afternoon. It’s a traditional process for them at this time of the year, but there seems to be much more at stake this season.

When it comes to field hockey, Newport Harbor is a dynasty. Last year, the program won its fourth straight Los Angeles Field Hockey Assn. Tournament of Champions.

The Sailors know they must work harder to continue the success.

“It’s a lot of pressure to be honest,” senior captain Jane Layton said of living up to the hype that comes from the four consecutive TOC titles. “But that pressure just turns into motivation. Each year is different. In the end, it would be great to win it again, but as long as our team can do the best we can do that’s really all that matters. We want to play to our best ability.

“Winning the past four TOC titles, we do have a huge target on our back but that just makes us want to work harder and play better as a team.”

“Team,” is an important word among the Newport Harbor girls, also known as “Chix with Stix.” Last year, when Newport Harbor did not win the Sunset League title, Coach Amanda Boyer continued to remind her players the importance of teamwork heading into the postseason.

She also stressed improvement and encouraged the team as it continued to peak at the right time.

This year, if there is ever adversity, Boyer can again point to the importance of teamwork. It’s even effective at the start of the season. Newport Harbor opens the season against Harvard-Westlake at Davidson Field on Tuesday.

“This year’s team is really different from last year,” said Boyer, a former goalie who has compiled a 44-6-2 record in her two seasons as head coach. “They really want to want play as a team and are excited to be with each other. There is a lot of excitement about being on varsity. That will carry them to getting stronger and being ready to play this season.”

Boyer, who was an assistant coach for two years before becoming head coach, said there has been great community support for the program. The supporters are also in favor of the team concept, because they have seen it produce success.

The importance of team is one of the few aspects that make it OK to invoke the past when it comes to what can happen this season. The Sailors can be proud of their four TOC titles, but Boyer is quick to say that those championships are in the past.

“The girls don’t want to be compared to the last four teams,” Boyer said. “They want to build their own name for themselves.”

The Sailors feature eight returners on this year’s team, including senior captains Layton, Sydney Dexter and Kirsten Rohan.

Jill Messersmith, Taury Hlinka, Anna Newman and Hannah Vigil are seniors who also want to leave Newport Harbor with yet another TOC title.

Newport Harbor will be missing one returner, junior Emily Conant. She tore her ACL in a bike accident in July, Boyer said. Conant had surgery last week and will miss the season.

The Sailors usually have one sophomore on the team, Boyer said, but they will have three this season on the varsity.

Boyer said it will be exciting to have that youth from Jordan Blanchfield, Caroline Gels and Allana Rockwell.

In addition to the eight returners, Boyer said she is grateful to have assistant coach Judy Schaefer, who has been with the program the past four years.

“She is really a huge asset to the team,” Boyer said of Schaefer.

Stix Weekly

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The 2012 Field Hockey season is here! And this is the first Stix Weekly post! Each week there will be a post with everything you’ll need to know for the upcoming week and near future (as best as we can predict!). There will be a ‘Program Wide’ section as well as individual team sections. These are our best laid plans for the week, so please be aware that information is always subject to change.

Program Wide
– Car Wash Fundraiser is Saturday, September 29 at 8:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Tickets were handed out at practice on Thursday. Each player is responsible for pre-selling ten tickets at $10 per ticket. Money is due by Friday, September 28.
– Parent Party is this Friday at 6 p.m.! Please make sure to RSVP as soon as possible.

Varsity
Monday – Happy Labor Day!
Tuesday – First game of the season! Home game is on Davidson Field at 3:15 vs. Harvard Westlake. Players are to be at the field at 2:00 p.m., wearing white uniforms and white socks, ready to set up the field and warm up.
Wednesday – Practice at 3 – 5 p.m. & Team Dinner at the Newman home.
Thursday – Away game at Bonita at 4:15 (JV is playing in the first game). Players will be dismissed from class early at 12:30. Bring both jerseys and socks, and bring cleats and running shoes.
Friday – Practice at 3 – 5 p.m.
Saturday – Otay Ranch Field Hockey Tournament in Chula Vista, CA. Game times are 9 a.m., 1 p.m., and 4 p.m. Players are responsible for finding transportation to and from the field and must be there by 8:00 a.m. Otay Ranch High School: 1250 Olympic Parkway, Chula Vista, CA 91913. If the team places in the top two spots in our pool, we will advance to continue play next Saturday, September 15, but we will leave Friday afternoon to spend the night in Chula Vista before game day.

JUNIOR VARSITY
Monday – Happy Labor Day!
Tuesday – First game of the season! Home game is at Davidson Field at 4:15 p.m. vs. Harvard Westlake. Players are to be at the field at 3:15 p.m. wearing white uniforms and white socks.
Wednesday – Practice at 3 – 5 p.m. & Team Dinner, location TBA.
Thursday – Away game at Bonita at 3:15 p.m. (JV is playing first) Players will be dismissed from class early at 12:30. Bring both jerseys and socks, and bring cleats and running shoes.
Friday – Practice at 3 – 5 p.m.
Saturday – LAFHA Play Day at Westminster High School. Time schedule TBA. Bring both uniform colors.

FROSH/SOPH
Monday – Happy Labor Day!
Tuesday – First game! Away game at Marina High School at 4:15 p.m. Be at the anchor at 2:15 p.m. Bring both uniform colors and blue socks.
Wednesday – 2:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Thursday – 2:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Friday – 2:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Saturday – Westminster Play Day in the Junior Varsity Bracket. Time schedule TBA. Bring both uniform colors.

A Letter from the President

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On behalf of the NHHS Field Hockey Boosters, I would like to welcome everyone to the 2012 hockey season. The FH Board and Head Coach Amanda Boyer have been meeting and planning over the off-season to make this year another memorable one for the girls. We have kept many of the Harbor traditions in place while trying to improve the program from the smallest details that may not be noticed by all but makes a difference for our daughters. Again this season our girls on Varsity and JV will be playing their home games at Davidson Field on the NHHS campus. This will be the second year in a row that we will be playing our home games at Davidson Field, so we can continue to generate field hockey excitement on campus, and more students can see our girls play this great game.

We will continue to enhance the stadium a bit so it has some field hockey feel for the girls and the spectators. For the second year, all three teams will be participating in San Diego tournaments. The varsity will be continuing our participation in the Otay-Ranch tournament. The JV will be present at the Helix JV tournament, as well as the F/S team. San Diego is a hot bed of high school field hockey with over 35 schools with programs. The competition is tough, however Newport has held its own in the past and is set to play hard again this year.

Each season presents various challenges, but one that is always present is generating enough funds for the program, so we can continue the high level of excellence from the coaching in the summer and fall to the team building events, attending various tournaments, plus the annual equipment and uniform upgrades. An exciting development has been the generosity of David Pyle, whose daughters graduated from the program last year and in 2010. David has made a significant donation to the Girls NHHS Field Hockey program with a $100,000 commitment over the next five years.  David Pyle’s significant donation is intended to be a matching program, so every dollar that we raise this year will be matched by his endowment. This means that the funds that you donate as parents will be matched by David’s endowment helping the program to meet its financial goals and help take the program to another level of excellence. We are establishing only two fund raising events this season. One is our annual car wash at St. Andrews and the other is our “Finish Strong” campaign headed by me.  More information to follow regarding your ability to donate and will be provided at the Parent Meeting and remain active throughout the season.

I want to thank the NHHS FH Board for all their efforts heading into this season. Nancy Rohan, our treasurer, has our financials so organized that she makes all of our jobs easy, and provides an incredible reconciliation of our budget and balance sheet keeping us all on track. Kathy Hancock has been an incredible asset as our secretary who’s energy, knowledge, and commitment to the program is astounding.  Both of these ladies are in their last year n the Board.  While they have both picked their successors and will be training them this year, we all owe an incredible amount of gratitude for the incredible job they have both done over the past two years.  The newest member to our Board this year is Jim Palmer, who is heading up the newly appointed position on the Board as Field Coordinator.  It takes a tremendous effort to make sure our fields and in the kind of shape that makes it enjoyable for our girls to play.  I am sure Jim would appreciate any parents who would be willing to volunteer their time and assistance since this job requires a lot of work.

As this year’s Board President and in charge of fundraising, I look forward to continuing the excellence of this program. Our girls truly take pride in continuing the traditions of one of the most successful programs at NHHS.  We will continue to try to live up to the excellence of this program so we can continue to Finish Strong.  The girls and coaching staff work very hard, have tremendous passion for the sport, and have a lot of fun.  The rewards and memories for our daughters is something they will carry with them for a lifetime.  This is evident by the incredible participation and enthusiasm generated by our annual Alumni game.  I am honored and feel privileged to be able to continue to support this program and our daughter’s memories.

Lastly, I want to thank all of you parents who give so generously of your time, support, and financial contributions.  The continued excellence of this program starts with your generosity and commitment to your daughters and the program’s success!

Please feel free to contact any of us with questions about whom, what, where and why details about the program for the upcoming season. Our contact information, like a lot of other great info, is on the NHHS FH website.

We look forward to another great season……Go Newport!

John Nulty

NHHS Girls Field Hockey Board President
949.632.9130

Parent Meeting

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The Newport Harbor Field Hockey 2012 Parent Meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 29 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will be located in the Student Center at St. Andrew’s.

Please download the Contribution/Registration/Merchandise Form, fill out the bottom form, and bring everything to the parent meeting.

It is very important that one or both parents be present to represent their daughter. This will be a chance to meet the Coaching Staff, Booster Board, and other parents. There will also be an opportunity to sign up for team dinners and other volunteer positions, purchase merchandise, and hear about the upcoming fall season.

We hope to see you there!