“No one plays field hockey here,” Byrd said. “The schools we play start playing when (the players are 5 years old). Our girls don’t start playing until they’re freshmen in high school, or even sophomores or juniors, so they don’t have very much experience.”
Regardless of the limited field hockey background, Byrd’s team has played pretty tough by her standards in 2013. Senior captains Kaili Fuehrer, Mira Alexander and Maggie Jaeger have helped lead the team to a respectable season, while seniors Samantha Thome and Julia Meerwijk have netted six and five goals each, respectively. The latter is actually an exchange student from the Netherlands.
“This year is actually the most goals we’ve ever scored and the best record we’ve ever had,” Byrd said. “This is the best I’ve ever seen us play over the last six years, and they’ve done so remarkably well this year.”
The starting squad is made up of 10 seniors and a lone sophomore, which gives the Braves a bit of experience heading into the postseason tournament next weekend. The junior varsity team, which Byrd says usually struggles, has been having a relatively good season as well, and will compete in the JV tournament this weekend.
Byrd, a Talawanda graduate, attended Wittenberg University to play field hockey before being forced to give up the game due to an injury. She transferred to Miami University, where she got her degree and started as an assistant coach for Talawanda for four years before being named the head coach in 2012.
Byrd has recently taken time off from coaching, though, and handed the reigns over to her assistant coaches – just last week, she gave birth to a baby girl named Addison.
Though Byrd has her hands full at home, she’s excited about her team’s success and can’t wait to see what it can do in the post-season.
“It’s been exciting to watch them grow and really develop this year,” Byrd said. “They’ve really put everything that we’ve been working on into action … I just could not be prouder of them. They’ve done some really great things out there this year.”
Talawanda will squared off against Indian Hill in the final regular season game Thursday, but results were not available at press time. The Braves face Ursuline in the league tournament.
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