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While you are probably sleeping, MSU field hockey is getting ready for the fall season

April 23, 2015

The practices are all part of the team’s spring schedule, and although the field hockey team might be the most visible at this time, Director of Athletic Communications Jamie Baldwin said many of MSU’s fall teams practice or lift weights early in the mornings in the spring, and vice versa in the fall with MSU’s spring teams.

“When teams share facilities, the team that is in-season uses the traditional late-afternoon practice times, and the other teams utilize the facility around class schedules,” Baldwin wrote in an email. “It’s the same for volleyball, as well as baseball and softball in the winter when the fields are still covered in snow. Our athletic facilities are frequently in use from before sunrise to late into the evening to accommodate all of our teams.”

And that includes the field hockey team.

“It’s obviously a little bit of a struggle but our team really values having a positive attitude and appreciating that it’s going to help us in the long run,” redshirt freshman back Simone Vagnoni said.

Every spring semester, the field hockey team begins practice in the middle of January and primarily comprises lifting weights and general overall conditioning.

Then, in the middle of February, the team is able to begin implementing more field hockey scrimmages into their practice. After spring break, the amount of field hockey in practice really ramps up, as the team is able to participate in five scrimmages throughout the spring.

With practice seemingly never stopping, some of the members of the team admit that it can get tough at times.

“We do (get worn down) sometimes because it’s just a lot to handle,” Vagnoni said. “Right now everyone’s bodies are worn down.”

But despite this, Vagnoni also said head coach Helen Knull does a good job at scheduling breaks and giving days off. And in the end, all of the hard work they’re putting in now will pay off when the season in the fall hits.

“We really talk about ... that our season starts in January, that we’ve got the time from January until April to get our foundation in,” Knull said. “Then in August, we welcome our freshmen but we only have two and a half weeks before our first game, so we really set our foundation in our offseason training so when the freshmen join in August ... we have a solid sense of our foundation so that those freshmen can come in play.”

And for senior midfielder Heather Howie, who is now entering into her final year with the program, has more than bought into Knull’s approach to the season.

“People say it a lot but championships are won in the offseason,” Howie said. “And I really do believe that.”

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