Being the son of a Kents Hill field hockey coach and always going to his practices when I was a toddler, I became bored, but I found ways to entertain myself. I mean, there are sticks and balls lying around everywhere.

How could a little boy not have a blast with that?

My father’s field hockey teams taught me how to play field hockey as I grew up. I played on and off with his team as I grew bigger and bigger. In the Fifth Grade, I joined my first team and that’s when I fell in love with the sport.

But, as most athletes do, I ran into a problem.

I was a boy, playing a primarily girl’s sport in this country. So, as I played, I was picked on by my peers and discriminated against by many coaches and umpires. But, that did not matter to me because I loved it, and I found ways around the problems I encountered.

Playing through middle school, being elected captain my 8th grade year, playing year round with indoor clubs and USFHA Futures gave me confidence in myself that I didn’t have before. I learned how not to care what anyone said or thought about me. I learned how not to react with negative words when someone shoved me or elbowed me on the field. I learned how to use positive actions, like scoring after being discriminated against and treated unfairly, to prove my point.

But then the inevitable happened and I got to high school and the league would not allow me to play field hockey competitively. However Kent’s Hill’s team was very supportive in letting me be a part of the team and practice with them. I helped with drills, manage the team and taught new girls how to play the sport.

I was asked once “Why bother putting that much energy into something that you can’t pursue in high school?” I could understand why people would think that, but I responded:

“I actually do feel like I’m part of the team because all of the girls support me playing and are actually sad that I can’t compete with them. They don’t care who you are or what your skill level is, they are just happy that you are play the sport because you want to have fun and you love it. But the main reason why I am playing field hockey for Kents Hill is because my dream is to be on the US Men’s Under 21 Nation Field Hockey team. Kents Hill has been so supportive of me by letting me play with the girls and even trying to set up an exchange program with a British school so I could play with their team for a trimester.”

So to out sum it all up, my experience at Kents Hill is not so much about playing field hockey or going on exchange programs, it’s the experience that at Kents Hill, it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, everyone there will accept you for who you are and do everything in its power to help you achieve your goals.