Establishing something new is always hard. Some people are afraid of change, while others just don’t want to put the effort into giving it a chance. Junior psychology major Emily Lucero knows this firsthand. A few semesters ago, she had the idea to start the club field hockey team at the University of Tampa.
She started the program with three other women, so they filled out the paperwork together and started recruiting people. During practices, Lucero took the position of teammate and coach at the same time. It began as just a student-run program, which eventually led to more structure. This spring is the first semester that the team has a real coach, and with 17 players, they seem well on their way to becoming a more established team here at UT.
Their new coach, 26-year-old Kaeleen Weiser, is a certified personal trainer from Philadelphia. She has lived in Tampa for two and a half years and owns her own personal training business. She played field hockey through high school, and always carried her sticks around when she headed to college in Pennsylvania and California.
“A friend of mine told me [that UT was looking for a coach] and I was more than interested if the opportunity ever arose. I said I would always like to coach field hockey so here it is, here I am,” Weiser said.
Having a coach on the team has really changed the structure of practices and commitment on the team, especially for Lucero.
“[Weiser] does a lot,” Lucero said. “It’s a huge difference having someone on the team who plays the coach’s role and having a coach who plays the coach’s role. Because it’s easier for people to look up to her and to respect her, and having her it’s more legitimate. And she likes to kick our butts and she works us out a lot. And I think that’s good for us.”
Freshman nursing major Laura Martin appreciates having Weiser take the lead also. “[Weiser] is very motivated, patient and doesn’t get frustrated. She’s whipping our butts into shape,” Martin said.
With the coach’s position, Weiser knows what she is looking for this season.
One of her main focuses is, “Keying in on what our strengths are as a team. Ideally what we’d like to do is get together some games with the other schools and create a consistent pattern of competition, so we’re actually out on the field for a reason.”
The field hockey team welcomes new players, whether they have played before or not. Since field hockey is bigger in New England than in the south, several girls on the team are still learning the basics.
“We teach them the basics, but make sure that they’re not segregated from our practices, make sure they’re playing with us, getting to know people,” Lucero said. “[Weiser] is a very great instructor, she knows how to teach people who have never played before.”
The team does not only accept women. Field hockey is a co-ed sport, so men are allowed to play on the UT team as well. The Tampa Bay Grasshoppers, an adult field hockey team, has several men on their team, and also professional experience. In the beginning, Lucero was in contact with them, and they agreed to help out UT, like they did with the University of South Florida, and Eckerd College.
“They told us that they’d be willing to get us on our feet and we told them about the situation, how we weren’t able to get much field space so they invited us to come to their practices,” Lucero said. “So some of our girls started going to their practices and they helped us build our skills.”
In the future, the team hopes it can host a field hockey tournament for the National Field Hockey League, right here at UT. This would mean teams from mostly the east coast would come to Tampa for an intense, competition-packed tournament. But in the meantime, the girls are just trying to solidify the program, and gain support from the school.
“I’d love for the school to chip in, come out and support any games we do have here, so we’re planning those out,” Weiser said. “I know last season the girls created some t-shirts. So wear a t-shirt, start supporting your friends from hockey.”
If you’re interested in playing field hockey, or wish to support the field hockey team, Weiser can be reached at kaeleen@weiserfitness.com.
Caroline Metell can be reached at cmetell@spartans.ut.edu