English true freshman gets significant play time with field hockey
Freshman forward/midfielder Imogen West runs down the field to defend her opponent Miami University on Friday, Sept. 28 at the CMU Field Hockey Complex.
Imogen West is a true freshman midfielder on the Central Michigan field hockey team that has made an appearance in each game the Chippewas have played.
It's not very often that a true freshman gets that much playing time, but West is different.
West has tallied one goal and one assist though 13 games into the season. The Chippewas sit at 1-12 on the year. Their most recent game was a 5-0 defeat against the Miami Redhawks on Sept. 28.
West’s recruitment process was different of what most of her teammates experienced. She hails from Wilshire, England. She attended Dauntsey’s School where she was a three time letter winner and helped her squad to the county championship in 2015.
“I was quite late to find out I could play field hockey over here,” West said. “It wasn’t too difficult of a process, we did a few Skype interviews and really liked (head coach Catherine Ostoich).”
West knows her role on the team and embraces this opportunity in the United States.
“I prepared myself for not getting much pitch time,” West said. “I’m a freshman and I shouldn’t expect anything, you have to work hard for something if you want it. I’m really grateful and happy that I’ve managed to get as much pitch time as I have.”
International recruiting is different than what American players experience. The players put their names into a service and the service reaches out to the coaches and show them video of the players in question.
Most international players acquaint themselves with coaches over video chatting services, then have their first look at campus when they join the team and move to Michigan. One of Ostoich’s teammates at the University of Richmond brought West and Ostoich together.
“I watched Immy’s video and really liked it,” Ostoich said. “We had our first Skype conversation and it just went really well. I liked everything that she was about.”
Ostoich was hired on as head coach in December of 2017. She signed West on April 18 for her personality off the field and her capabilities on the field.
“She’s got great endurance and she’s fast," Ostoich said. "She knows how to draw a foul and that’s awesome and something we’ve been stressing with the team. She also makes things happen in the circle, it’s not conventional she has a good enough reverse and she is reverse sweeping balls that normally don’t get through that a lot of people would be reverse hitting it.”
West also spent time on the 2017 Malaysian Hockey Tour, where she was top goal scorer and also was a two-time letter earner in the sport of netball, a hybrid of basketball, soccer and hockey.
