by BRIANNA SICILIANO Staff Writer
Field hockey is a fall sport, but year-round training is needed to excel at this sport. That is just what sophomore Jenna Parisen does.
When Parisen was in eighth grade, she played on Applegarth Middle School’s field hockey team. Parisen attended the field hockey camp that the former high school coach directed. When watching the high schoolers play field hockey, she fell in love with the sport.
“I planned on playing for the middle school team only to break my arm in 7th grade during tryouts. I actually began playing in eighth grade for the school team,” said Parisen.
As a freshman, Parisen had a passion for field hockey and could not wait to try out. She made the varsity team, and in 2012, she made varsity again.
Parisen not only plays for MTHS, but also for her club team Total Dutch Field Hockey. While in eighth grade, she began to play on her club team.
Her team was new and just starting, and with all of her team’s hard work and dedication, they were ranked sixth in the nation.
Parisen played lacrosse and ran track as a freshman, but due to her commitment to her year-round club, she dropped lacrosse and track to focus as much as she could on field hockey.
Parisen’s hobbies are not only field hockey: “I am in FCA, Mock Trials. I am highly involved in my church’s youth group and do mission work in the summer. I also work at the Harvey Cedars Bible Conference during the summer. I am also treasurer of my class and vice president of our state’s huge DECA chapter. I recently campaigned for DECA State Central vice president and won!”
In the 2012 field hockey season, MTHS ended up 9-10-1. Parisen scored 12 goals during the season and assisted three times. Parisen is a starting forward, which means she has to work to get the ball into the other team’s circle to score.
“Jenna was an absolutely amazing player, and constantly gave 200 percent with everything she did. From having so much experience in the past, she had so many skills that greatly contributed to the team. She was truly a star player, and I loved being her teammate,” said senior and former teammate Chelsea Richards.
Parisen’s club team travelled and played in the Disney Field Hockey Showcase 2012, where they placed third out of 90 teams in the U16 division. The team also played at the National Indoor Tournament and placed fourth.
As a forward, Parisen has learned to use her speed and outrun her opposing team’s defense. She does not take a lot of time in front of the goal, and she one-touches the ball.
“One-touching the ball is when someone passes the ball to me, I don’t have to stop it, I just shoot and score,” says Parisen.
Parisen’s success in field hockey will not stop any time soon.
“I anticipate Jenna will continue to be very successful in field hockey during the second half of her high school career and continue on to play field hockey in college,” said Coach Ashleigh Pecherski.
Parisen has caught the eye of many colleges early on in her high school career, and has been contacted by multiple collegiate field hockey teams.
Parisen has a few goals for her future, “My goal is to start a clinic for the younger kids in Monroe to start field hockey at a young age. Another goal of mine is to play collegiate field hockey.”
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