Alumni Game

Keeping Up with the Martlets

Team Journal

Friday, September 11th, 2015

A new school year has dawned, and with it comes all the usual stress and excitement of a fresh start at McGill University: the tumultuous Add-Drop period, the scrambling for textbooks, the reunions with Uni friends you haven’t seen in months, and, of course, all of the lovely festivities and free food around campus.

For the McGill Martlet Field Hockey team, a new school year also marks the beginning of regular-season practices and a wealth of responsibilities to balance on top of being a varsity athlete.

This past Labor Day, the team celebrated the beginning of season with its annual Alumni game.  The Alumni game is an incredible opportunity for the current team to meet and socialize with past Martlets, young and old. This year, thanks to the hard work and tireless networking of our captains and team manager, the team welcomed back 16 Field Hockey Alum. It was touching to watch former teammates reunite on the field, some of whom hadn’t seen each other in 15 years! 

The Alumni and Martlets were also joined by the Montreal Men’s League, the team that all of our coaches play for. This made for an interesting pseudo-tournament, a battle of the sexes and of the ages, pitting coaches against players, and even former captains against their former rooks.

The original plan was to play a standard 70-minute game, but due to the sweltering heat last Monday, the teams played shorter, 20-minute games with 10 minute half-times. 

Temperatures lingered between 27°C and 32°C (80°F-89°F), and the air was heavy with humidity. Players were sweating before the games even began. With this in mind, the Martlets hatched a game plan to optimize performance under such taxing playing conditions. In order to avoid over-exertion and heat exhaustion, the team took advantage of space on the field by maintaining shape and focusing on a hard, accurate passing game. 

The unfavorable weather made for a grueling hour or so of playing, but the Martlets’ tactic of utilizing space paid off.  The defense played a beautiful game, maximizing the width of the field with a trough-style defensive shape, and making use of quick transfers and targeted clears to the outside.  This became especially useful in the game against the men, who seemed to be the only ones un-phased by the excrutiating heat.

Each team played each other once.  The scores of the games became roughly irrelevant, but if we had counted, the men came out with the most goals, followed by the Martlets, and then the Alumni.  Serious props to everyone who participated last Monday— it was not an easy or pleasant day for a game, but everyone came out, put in their all, and walked off with a positive attitude.

Of course, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel…

Per tradition, the Alumni game is followed by a barbecue, graciously provided by the family of former Martlet Eleni Siganos.  If there’s anything that can motivate an athlete to push through the end of a difficult game, it’s the promise of reward, and the way to a Martlet Field Hockey player’s heart is most definitely food.

The barbecue was a lovely way to end the day.  It gave the teams a chance to mingle and connect, and everyone left the field with full stomachs and a thoroughly satisfied appetite.

Bringing together men and women of all ages and levels of experience, the Alumni game just goes to show the amount of love and passion behind this sport and this team.  In a city with virtually no presence of field hockey, the McGill Martlets have managed to foster a small community of loyal supporters and friends.  Without this sense of family, the team could not be what it is today.

The Alumni!