So many different people in Hatfield were (and are) fans of these teams! From their parents to their principal, neighbors to news reporters, the support was strong.
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(if you would like to add your memories, we'd love to add them! Please email additions to [email protected] !)
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Frank Abarno was the principal of Smith Academy during both championship years, and sent the 1993 team the letter at right. He has this to add in 2023:
"In 1993, when Smith Academy won the State Field Hockey Championship, a group of nine, ten and eleven year olds watched and dreamed that they would some day become champions like the "big girls". Seven years later that dream would come true. They would achieve their goal by different means. Different memories would be created, but in the end the final record would be the same.
The state championships won by the 1993 and 2000 Smith Academy Field Hockey Teams, sealed the legacy of Coach Sherry Webb and her field hockey teams as one of the most successful programs in the state of Massachusetts for over a generation. However, it is hard for me to imagine that there was another program that could come close to matching the Smith Academy program's level of success in terms of wins and personal accomplishments by its many gifted athletes." |
Parents were the first line of support, from rides to practice to pasta suppers, from decorating the locker room to filling away-game stands, Eileen Dostal, mother of Kelly Dostal, recalls:
"It was just so gratifying to see the girls better themselves game after game. They were listening to Coach Webb. I think they were really beginning to think if we all give 110%, great things could happen! When they kept winning and winning, we could hardly wait for the next game! We wanted to go that extra mile and come up with some funky awesome decorations for their locker room! The school, community, families and friends rallied around these wonderful young athletes!" Marcia Wojewoda, SA Class of '65 and Hatfield Historical Society Board member, was not involved with the teams during their championship years - she came to know them while working on this project. "These women are so inspiring, and it's just been such a pleasure to get to know them. The camaraderie and support is just so impressive." |
Sports reporter Scott Cohen and Smith Academy Field Hockey coach Sherry Webb recorded memories of the teams, and reflected on how special that time was, for the students, but also for the town and the whole community.
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Father Robert Coonan was an avid fan of both teams, and how they presented themselves both on and off the field.
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