From an 8th grader to one of Hudson Field Hockey’s key players this year, Sofia Boyle has been hitting the field hockey ball in the back of the cage since day one. While the rest of us were still figuring out how to hold the stick, Sofia was three steps ahead, already dribbling the ball right around her teammates. With her use of speed and skill, defenders just can’t get past Sofia Boyle.
As a junior this year, Sofia is preparing to help her team beat their biggest rival, Shaker Heights, and win states. Her first step is making sure her team is in perfect shape with the help of her captains, Brooke Buchanan and Molly Curry. “As a team we must all trust each other on the field…right now we are working on putting communication into our playing, and when we all start communicating with each other we always end up playing our best.”
As her second year on varsity, Sofia knows the ins and outs of what the coaches expect from the team and how to push her teammates to their very best potential. Last year she won most improved player along and earned two goals and two assists as a first time sophomore on varsity.
This year she has bigger plans to achieve her future goals, which include “hopefully getting committed to a Division One School.” But, for now, she is working on “perfecting her skills to the very best and making sure everyone is working hard but also having a great time on the field.”
Sofia started to really find a love for the sport in middle school, as she mainly played lacrosse in the past. She really loved how easily it came for her to control the ball and how fun it was to just sweep the ball across the field. “In middle school nobody really took the sport seriously, but we all had no idea what the sport would be like in high school, and it’s crazy to look back at all of us,” she laughs. She loves to look back at her younger self and compare herself now.
Sofia doesn’t just promote Hudson Field Hockey on the field, she also promotes it to her peers at her school, making sure every game has filled stands. Alongside Molly Beegle and Reese Harvey, Sofia and her teammates promote the team in the most creative ways, such as interviewing other teammates, friends, boyfriends and teachers on their Tik Tok account “Micdup_Hudsonfieldhockey.” The girls have received a lot of positive feedback from their peers, with helping the team have filled stands with their fans they have gained from the videos. “Having the account really helps bring our team closer together because we all love hearing the responses from people”, Boyle laughs. “It’s also a great way to show how close we all are to each other, and showing people what a real team looks like”, she says.
As a varsity athlete, Boyle has to find time to balance school, practice and a social life. “I mostly have to get ahead in school, which unfortunately means I have to stay up later, but it all ends up being worth it. Sometimes my friends just have to wait.” But field hockey isn’t her only skill; she also is a part of the girls lacrosse team and is a member of Hudson Community First. She also would like to pursue a career as a nurse practitioner or a physician. She just needs to find the right college that can provide both for her.
Boyle hopes to use all she has this season to help her team win playoffs. She is determined and has good plans for their future game against Shaker Heights.
