As a result, the Firebirds have one of the deepest varsity and junior varsity rosters in the state and have cream-of-the-crop players leading the squads.
“We have a great tradition at Fairmont, and a lot of people know about Fairmont field hockey, and they know that it’s out there, so we do get great athletes,” said Crumbaugh.
“I know there are several schools that struggle with numbers and trying to get people to come back. In Columbus this year a lot of schools have canceled their JV (junior varsity) games because they didn’t have enough (players) to fill a team. We have never had that problem.
“I think that is a testament to our tradition and how hard we work in this area.”
Looking for more
But even teams with rich histories can have problems. Including the Firebirds.
Despite posting an impressive record to start the year, Crumbaugh was looking for more out of her athletes those first few games than just wins. She was looking for a team to play on the field, not a group of individuals.
With all the wins the Firebirds were posting, some found it hard to believe that Crumbaugh was looking for more out of her athletes. But she was.
“It wasn’t that we played badly. We played good games and had some good wins, we just had some problems ‘clicking’ at first. I think was kind of hard,” Crumbaugh said.
“Everyone was kind of playing their own position. By the third game we started playing together more and working together. There was more communication and that was our big thing that made us more of a team.”
Now, the Firebirds are trying to accomplish their team goal: improve their record and play better.
While the team dreamed of winning the state title, improving upon themselves is more meaningful for this group of athletes.
Which, in a way, means losing once in a while can be OK.
Being all they can be
“Even if you lose, as long as you played your best and you know that’s your best, then that is what matters,” Crumbaugh said.
“You are going to have those games where you played 100 percent, and you did what you could and, you still lost. In that case, (losing) is going to be OK, as long as you did all that you could.
“That is always one thing we always emphasize to them.”
But before the end of the season, there is one game the team hopes to win: a rematch with Oakwood.
In just its second game of the season, Fairmont took on the only other field hockey team in the Dayton area and lost in overtime.
In that game, the Firebirds played their best, but the loss was hard to accept according to Crumbaugh.
“That was probably one of our hardest games this year because we played a great game, and so did Oakwood,” said Crumbaugh. “Overall, it was a fantastic game, and then for us to lose — it just wasn’t what we wanted to happen at the end of a game like that.”
Contact this writer with story ideas at hehr.3@wright.edu.
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