International Influence: Field hockey recruits players from distant lands


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Victoria Zegler/Staff Photographer From left to right: British Columbia senior Kim Sihota, Trinidad and Tobago junior Anastasia Netto, Toronto freshman Simon Lazar and British Columbia junior Brooke Sihota laugh with one another before field hockey practice Thursday at the Turf Bay in the Athletic Indoor Complex. The four hold a flag and a T-shirt that represent their home countries.

Its popularity is rising in North America.

A national sport in India and Pakistan, field hockey isn’t exactly a top sport in Michigan.

That being said, recruiting high quality players in Michigan isn’t exactly an easy job for CMU head coach Cristy Freese.

“We do go after some good kids from Ann Arbor,” Freese said, “but they sometimes set their sights on the Big Ten, so we have to battle them and the Ivy League.”

The coaching staff’s recruiting system branches outside of the state, looking at players from all around the country, and even some international players.

Currently, senior Amy Binder and freshman Carissa Flocken are the only two players on roster from the state. From there, the players’ hometowns are spread out over eight different states, ranging from New York to California and Wisconsin to Kentucky.

To go even further, Freese has four players from outside the U.S.

Freshman Simone Lazar, from Etobicoke, Ont., found interest in CMU from her native town in Canada.

“I wanted to change up my field hockey skills,” Lazar said, “I’ve been playing for six years and (field hockey is) really small in Ontario, though it’s growing.”

Most of the time, students interested in playing at CMU will write to the school explaining their interest.

The staff will then decide whether or not to recruit players after doing some research and seeing them play, often times at tournaments.

“Usually, the kids that you’re going to have the best chance with are the kids that make that initial, ‘I’m interested in Central Michigan’,” Freese said.

The staff will also try to contact players who might not have had CMU on their list of school choices to see if they can get them interested.

“When they come to visit, I think we have about an 80 percent chance of getting them to join,” Freese said.

By moving to Michigan, Lazar said she learned new tactics and ways to play the game.

She cites an example as use of the poke check during one-on-one defense.

“Playing styles change from country to country and I thought it would be a good experience and, honestly I love it here,” Lazar said. “It’s exposed me to new coaching styles.”

Though her family is still in Canada, they’re able to keep up with her progress.

“They come down once a month and basically watch (the games) online all the time, so they’re supporting me that way,” Lazar said.

Overseas

A product of the Trinidad & Tobago national team, junior Anastasia Netto holds the starting goaltender title at CMU.

“My home base right now is Florida,” Netto said. “I lived in Trinidad & Tobago full time for 15 years, and then off and on for four years after.”

Her mom and sister live in Florida, her half-brother and half-sister live in Trinidad & Tobago and her brother lives in Europe, but Netto said they support each other from a distance.

“My brother came up a lot my freshman year and my mom has been up a lot this year and throughout the years,” she said. “I’ve got some really good support and the CMU field hockey team is like family.”

Back home, Netto plays for the Trinidad & Tobago national team. She said playing against the male Trinidad & Tobago national team added a different dynamic to the game and challenged her differently.

“The American style of hockey always intrigued me, too, and coming here just helped me learn more about it,” said Netto, who had the chance to play against the U.S. team before coming to CMU.

After playing in multiple countries, including Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay and USA, Netto found her way to Mount Pleasant.

“One of my neighbors growing up actually lived in Michigan when she was little,” she said. “She spoke about Michigan and seeing the Great Lakes and I thought, ‘Where is Michigan? I’ve got to find out more about this’.”

Netto did research on multiple Division I schools, but her interest was in coming to CMU.

Freese said the interest for students to come to CMU is not solely for its athletics, and that the diverse roster says something about the program.

“I think it’s a real positive statement about our academic reputation, not only CMU, but our team’s reputation of having quality students,” she said. “That’s the attraction to Central Michigan to not only come here to play field hockey, but to get a quality education on top of that.”

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