Q&A with Atlee HS field hockey seniors Marissa Perry and Takara Kaegi
MECHANICSVILLE, Va. — A Q&A with Atlee High School field hockey seniors Marissa Perry and Takara Kaegi.
Marissa Perry
Age: 17
Sport: Field Hockey
Sports participated in: Track, Indoor Track, and Field Hockey
Years in current sport: 6 years
Teams: Atlee High School and Focus Field Hockey (2 years)
School: Atlee High School
Grade/year: Senior graduating in 2022
What are your personal goals within your sport/athletic dream?
Marissa Perry: For the longest time, my goal had been to play for a D1 college after high school. Due to all of my injuries, I found this to be a bad idea and decided to just focus on high school athletics. Once I turned the page with that dream, I began to set a goal to leave a good impact and be a good example for the team.
What is the biggest challenge in your sport, and what do you do to manage this challenge?
Perry: The biggest challenge within field hockey is the cardio. Our sport is very cardio-heavy and demands a lot of running from us athletes. To manage this, we condition year-round before and during every season. Conditioning can be anything from sprints to a 1.5-mile timed run. We also do High-Intensity Interval Training to strengthen our muscles and add in the cardio bit.
What was the best advice you were ever given?
Perry: The best advice I have been given has come from my coach. Constantly during workouts, she will continue to encourage us to push through and try our best. One of her famous lines that I still go by today is “your mind will give up before your body” (Heather Hodges). This is honestly one of the best pieces of advice I’ve received throughout my career. When I first started, I would struggle because my muscles would become weak, or so I thought they were, but honestly, it was just my mind giving up. The more I began to remind myself of that quote, the more I began to push myself and see an improvement after the hard work was over.
What do you love about your sport?
Perry: For me, I love the intensity the sport brings. I love the adrenaline rush I receive while playing too.
Do you have a pregame ritual you follow?
Perry: For home games, I will eat snacks at school with the rest of the team and head home. Once I go home, I put my hair into dutch braids and get all my gear ready. On the field, I get dressed and then start with ladders to warm my feet up. Then I go into warm-ups with my coaches. Lastly, the players come and warm me up.
What do you like to do outside of your sport?
Perry: I like to hunt whenever I get time off from hockey. They both run during the same season, so it’s pretty hard to find the time. I cut wood with my parents on the weekends for our little bundling thing we have going on. I love to do anything outdoors. Truthfully, I am happy as long as I have something to do that’ll keep my hands and me busy.
What has being a member of a team taught you?
Perry: Being a team member has taught me that, no matter what, if one of us fails to do something correctly, we will all suffer the consequences. A good example of this is running all the way through the line during sprints. If one of us decides to choke up or cut the line short, all of us will have another sprint to run. This helped build a relationship within the team and teach all of us integrity.
Describe a mistake you made while competing and how you overcame it?
Perry: A mistake I have made while competing is being scored on my near post. This is probably one of the easiest spots to cover; however, 9/10 times a goalie will be scored on their near post. I started cheating to the center of the cage and began leaving that side open. This led to me being scored on, and it tore me up inside. I constantly told myself that I wouldn’t let it happen again. The next couple of days at practice, my coach began working with me on it, and I had a consequence every time I let the ball in. I had to do five push-ups if I let one ball in on my near post during a drill. Push-ups weren’t my favorite exercise, especially in pads, but I did them anyway. I began to fix the problem and become more aware, so I didn’t have to do those pushups.
Takara Kaegi
Age: 17
Sport: Field Hockey
Sports participated in: 3
Years in current sport: 3
Team/s: Atlee High School
Grade/Year: 12
What are your personal goals within your sport/athletic dreams?
Takara Kaegi: My goals were to enjoy myself and have a good time with my friends.
What is your biggest challenge in your sport, and what do you do to manage this challenge?
Kaegi: My biggest challenge was that I was not as advance as the other players. I started field hockey when I was a sophomore in high school. Many of my teammates began playing in elementary school. To manage this challenge I watched how my teammates would play and watch their stick work.
What was the best advice you were ever given?
Kaegi: “Be fierce.” I was a very shy player and would tend to not believe in myself. It helped me to become a braver individual and a braver player.
What do you love about your sport?
Kaegi: I love how uncommon it is. I love how once people come to a field hockey game they fall in love with it. A lot of individuals think field hockey is boring but then they come to a game and fall in love with it.
What do you like to do outside of your sport?
Kaegi: I love to enjoy the outdoors and play the harp.
What has being a member of a team taught you?
Kaegi: It has taught me patience and it has also taught me how to communicate well with adults and other students.
Describe a mistake you made while competing and how you overcame it.
Kaegi: A mistake I played while playing was the angle of my stick. I had angled my stick the wrong way and the ball rolled up the stick and hit me in the face. It only caused a small bruise on my face.
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