The Beginning
After the 2024 season ended, the Dighton-Rehoboth Field Hockey team lost five seniors. The year before that, six, and before that, four. Over the course of three years, fifteen seniors have graduated, not to mention the ten that graduated during the 2021 season; what was left for the 2025 roster and the future of the team as a whole? With no upcoming seniors for the 2026 team, who will step up and lead this team to a good season?
The 2025 field hockey team consists of three seniors, five sophomores, six freshmen, and five middle schoolers. They had to recruit middle schoolers to suffice for the lack of participation at the high school level. This young roster can prove many difficulties and raise many questions. Can they develop their skills as fast? Do they have the same athletic abilities as a high schooler? It would be this season when the Falcons would answer these questions.
When the team had their first game, at home against Joseph Case, they faced major trouble, losing 9-0 and starting the season off on the wrong foot. These losses were not in vain, however, as the team would slowly improve over the next few games. How did this team improve so rapidly? Senior captain Reese Jefferson attributes it to the “leadership of captains” and “intense practices that prepared them for in-game scenarios.”
Team Bond
Despite this rocky start, the field hockey team started to build their chemistry and start working towards winning more and more games. Multiple underclassmenbegan to step up and show their true capabilities this season and in the future. Even off the field, the underclassmenwere cheering on. Even though sophomore Isabella Rego tore her ACL and missed the whole season, sophomore Lillian Swan noted, “Every chance she got, [Isabella] was on the sidelines cheering us on,” highlighting just how dedicated these players are.
This bonding also expands beyond the stick and ball. During the season, the team held many events to help introduce the new players to the rest of the team. One of the best team bonding experiences came when senior captain Rebecca Zankul held a team dinner, inviting the whole team to bond and discuss what the season holds for them. Through this, both on- and off-the-field connections have grown, and the team as a whole has started to understand what it truly means to work together. As freshman Abbie Oldmixon has stated, “I think the team has adapted to the young roster by understanding we are a younger team.” Despite this younger team, Oldmixon also added that “everyone hypes each other up to put their best effort out.” The team’s undeniably growing team bond is what ultimately allowed them to succeed throughout the entirety of the season.
The Result of Teamwork/Future of the Team
Although the team unfortunately missed out on the state tournament this year, there is nothing to be upset about for the future. This group of underclassmensomehow found a way to make an impact on the field and show what it means to come together and play like a well-seasoned team. Oldmixon explains that “this young roster does prove to be promising because our players will have been playing for many years on varsity years before their usual varsity experience.”
Improvement has already been shown on the field: the unfortunate shutoutbetween Case has reversed into a steady upswing that will likely continue going up as the team grows older. In their matchupswith Southeastern Regional Vocational High School, they were able to win 8-4 and 9-3. Their first contention with Seekonk ended with a loss of 1-8; on October 17, they tied them 2-2, both goals scored by Swan. Although one may say they did not win, the grit and determination this team has displayed all season is one that can not go unnoticed, just as their improvement has clearly shone as the time progressed.
Dighton-Rehoboth Field Hockey may be small, but they have a lot of heart in them. They fully believe that their hard work and dedication throughout this ultimately rough season will be a catalyst for the future success of the team and what it has to offer. Swan believes that “if [the younger girls] continue to push themselves, we can have a promising future.” Having no doubt in their abilities, the team aims to end on a high note with their season closer along with their senior night celebrations against Fairhaven, whom they scarcely lost to by one goal in their last showdown. After this game, Dighton-Rehoboth Field Hockey will lie in the hands of a young yet determined group, one that will strive to play well and improve upon their faults from this season.
