Joyce Mak, a senior at WHS, has been a member of the Girls Field Hockey team since her sophomore year and has fallen in love with the sport. Mak won ECC girls athlete of the week in the third week of October.

Mak plays left forward which tasks her with receiving the ball from the midfield and scoring. Mak spends about 20 hours a week on field hockey whether that is practicing or scrimmaging another team. It depends on the coach, how much time is spent each week dedicated to the sport, Mak says. Even on Sundays when there is no official practices, Mak heads to the field to practice her drives on goals. 

If someone had no clue what the sport of field hockey is, Mak would explain it as “I think it is very similar to soccer, we have our three forwards, mids, and defense, and then obviously a goalie or keeper.” Mak suggests to any aspiring field hockey players “. . . run as much as you can, wherever and whenever.” In addition another piece of advice Mak offers up is to practice stick work and fiddle with the ball when watching tv. According to Joyce, the worst part of field hockey is the sprints, “. . .they absolutely kill me every time.” Mak’s favorite part of field hockey is, “. . .the people on the team, they’re all amazing, especially this year, I feel like we’re so close and we all care about each other so much.” 

Field hockey has taught Joyce skills in communication, teamwork and discipline. Her favorite memory from playing field hockey is, “. . .scoring my first goal my sophomore year during senior night, that night was so emotional already because my seniors were leaving and I scored my first goal, a lot of tears were shed.” As seniors look to the future and plan what steps they will take after graduation Joyce Mak has decided wherever she goes field hockey will be a part of her path. She plans on playing club field hockey at whatever college she attends.