Field Hockey Seniors Show Resilience Through Adversity During JMU Careers

By Kaiden Bridges
JMUSports.com

For James Madison field hockey Head Coach Christy Morgan, it's important that her team "be where their feet are" — a lesson ingrained in her seniors for years through COVID-19 and conference departures and realignments.

From the makeshift COVID season that consisted of just eight games in spring 2021, to watching JMU depart from the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) to the Sun Belt — a conference that doesn't house field hockey, resulting in a transition to independent status for two seasons and now finally finding a new home in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) — the Dukes have seen it all.

"Not being in a conference has been close to purgatory," Morgan said. "It's hard, they've had an up-and-down ride in their four or five years, but I think it grew their resilience as people and as players."

Despite the ups and downs, graduate midfielder/forward Mia Julian, fifth-year midfielder Carissa Tambroni and graduate defender Sarah Beers said JMU's "resilient" culture kept them grounded.

"It's obviously been a time period with so many ups, so many downs, and at the moment, I feel like it's easy to be frustrated or annoyed — how we were in the conference and then not in it," Beers said. "But ultimately, I feel like when we look back at our careers, we just have the opportunity to have so many more lessons than other athletes haven't gotten, and the ability to overcome adversity, which has made us stronger players and people off the field. So when you think back on it, it actually makes you really grateful for everything that we've been through."

Through all the uncertainty, one thing the Dukes knew they could always rely on was each other.

"I feel so lucky to have faced everything we've been through with a group of people, because it made it a lot easier," Julian said.

Tambroni said team bonding has been vital for the program the last few years, and she's thankful to have a core group alongside her amidst transitions. Along with leaning on one another, Tambroni said she's enjoyed getting to know her teammates better, as Morgan and the coaching staff instill many bonding exercises before home games and on the road.

"She's [Morgan] had us take the time that we're on the bus to connect with two or three of our teammates and ask them, 'What makes them so special?'" Tambroni said. "And usually once we arrive and are eating dinner, we talk about those moments. It just really grows us as a team, and I've gotten to know my teammates at such a deeper level. I think that's easily one of my favorite parts of these trips and of the season — just being able to ask those questions that maybe you haven't thought of. It's been a super cool journey of just being able to learn more about my teammates."

Morgan realized these situations were far from easy for the Dukes, but she said she was ultimately grateful her group could face such adversity, adding that she believes it's important for people to experience such challenges in life.

When players are able to navigate the present and face adversity head-on, that's when Morgan believes the best JMU field hockey can be played.

"See where your feet are and learn the lessons in the face of adversity," she said. "I think that the biggest lesson we all get every day in life is we have to live every minute, we get to play every minute. We have to recognize that every ball matters in the game, every step matters in the game, and when you really live in the moment and play in the moment, you play good hockey. You're not worried about outcomes, because that will take care of itself. If you're really all-in all the time, and if we all feel that way as a team, it's powerful."

Fast-forward to this season — the Dukes' inaugural year in the MAC — and they've made quite an impression so far. Julian said she hopes this continues in the conference for seasons to come as a testament to their hard work.

"Hopefully, we're in the MAC a long time and see success in this new conference for years," she said. "But I think with everything we've been through, we just come with a fresh, new perspective that a lot of people can't say they have."

Finishing the regular season 13-5 (7-1 MAC), JMU was named MAC Co-Champions of the regular season with App State and Miami (Ohio) and received a handful of postseason accolades including Morgan winning MAC Head Coach of the Year and Beers and Tambroni being named to the All-MAC Second Team.

Coming up, the Dukes are the No. 1 seed in the MAC Field Hockey Championship and will face No. 4 seed Kent State in the semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 11:30 a.m. Morgan said spirits are high as the team is grateful to be part of a conference and participate in postseason play after not having a conference tournament to compete in for the last two years.

"I think maybe if you've had a tournament every year, you might take a little piece for granted," Morgan said. "We're excited to be in the tournament, whether we were the first seed, fourth seed or sixth seed. We're just happy to be there, and now we know it's a new season — we want to play our best hockey right now."

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