A week ago, Kathleen Tuohy was named as an All-Conference athlete. The Seaford High School junior is a force to be reckoned with in a sport few are familiar with.
Tuohy is a star for the varsity girls field hockey squad, a group of high schoolers who have a true competitive edge on the field. Head coach Elizabeth May calls Tuohy “a hard worker,” and for good reason.
She is currently a member of seven clubs at Seaford, and she’s serving as the student government’s treasurer.
“She hustles up the field to put herself into scoring position,” May said. “ Not only does Kathleen have great skills on the field, but she carries herself with a positive attitude that is contagious to her teammates. Seaford is definitely proud to have Kathleen Tuohy as a member of our varsity field hockey team.”
The Levittown Tribune spoke with Tuohy, discussing her success on the field, as well as her future.
Q: What’s it like to play field hockey?
A: It’s a very different sport than any other that I’ve played. In middle school, I gave up all of the other sports I played to start playing field hockey. You can only use one side of the field hockey stick, which is different from both sides [of the stick] in regular hockey. It’s one of the most difficult things. You’re not allowed to touch the goal with your feet, and if that happens, you get called. It’s very hard to score a goal in field hockey because the goal is relatively small compared to the size of the goalie.
Q: Why did you want to focus on field hockey?
A: Both of my cousins who are older than me actually played field hockey. I found out Seaford had a field hockey team, so I wanted to take on something new and have a challenge.
Q: What challenges have you faced since joining this team?
A: One of the biggest challenges was changing positions because in middle school, I was a midfielder. When I came to high school, I made varsity as a freshman. They needed me to play virtually every position, and I was thrown in wherever my coach needed me to play. It was hard to transition from playing forward to midfield to defense. What I’m good at now is playing forward. You have to almost hug the post or pop out for the midfielder.
Q: What’s it like to split your time between all of these clubs?
A: It’s very hard. It takes a lot of time management skills, which I’ve been lucky to sort everything out pretty well. Sometimes, I have three different clubs in the same day. It takes a lot of prioritizing, day-by-day.
Q: What are your goals with field hockey?
A: I don’t know if I want to play in college because I’m looking to be a physician’s assistant major. I want to work with kids. For my senior year, I’m hoping to step up as a leader to help my team. Hopefully, we can make the playoffs.
