By Maggie Frail

Some people spend summer break traveling to see family or visiting new countries, but senior Adele Thomas spent her summer traveling around the United States to many places, including Pennsylvania and New Mexico, to play club field hockey.

   Thomas has been playing goalkeeper for the Reynolds field hockey team for three years, but she did not start out playing in the goal. She started playing in the sixth grade but did not start playing in the goal until eighth grade.

   “I really wanted to play [as a goalkeeper] starting out, but they had already selected somebody,” Thomas said. “When our keeper was taken out because of an injury for the rest of the season, they just put me in.”

   Although she wanted to be in the goal in the beginning, Thomas did not fall in love with the position until her ninth-grade season at Summit Middle School.

   “My middle school coach was the first person that set me up with any knowledge at all, and my ninth-grade season kind of made me fall in love with the position,” Thomas said.

   Thomas’ favorite parts about playing in the goal rather than in the field are that she can see the entire field and that she has control of the defense.

   While in the goal, Thomas is very demanding of herself, and it inspires her teammates.

   “She gives 100% of herself each day,” Reynolds field hockey coach Rebecca Johnson said. “Her tenacity, hard work and refusal to quit brings out the best in her teammates.”

   Every two months or so, Thomas goes with her travel team to play a tournament, and she enjoys the competition the tournaments bring.

   “It’s a lot of fun to play with and against players from all around the country that have commited to top-rank colleges,” Thomas said. “I also love that our coach is a wild Aussie who played on their men’s national team and can hit the ball harder than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

   One of Thomas’ favorite players is Maddie Hinch, an English international field hockey goalkeeper. However, she said she truly admires any professional player due to the amount of work they have to put into the sport even though they do not make a lot of money and sometimes have to work another job.

   “Professional hockey players don’t get paid enough to just play hockey like some athletes do,” Thomas said. “The amount of work they have had to put into that is ridiculous.”

   Thomas hopes to continue her field hockey career in Pennsylvania after her time at Reynolds. Her club coach, Steve Boniface, has been helping by suggesting colleges and helping her reach out to those schools.

   “[He] is, like, really sticking his neck out for me,” said Thomas. “Right now I’m looking at Albright and Drexel.”

   She is looking for music industries and production classes and hopes to find a professional career in that field.

   “I’m just a huge music geek, and I think the music industry is really interesting,” Thomas said.

Photo provided by RJR Athletics