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12/23/2020 11:00 PMThe 2020 field hockey season was an unusual one for Bailey Roberts. However, it ultimately turned out to be the best year of Bailey’s career as a member of the Westbrook field hockey team.
Westbrook finished the year with an overall record of 2-3-3 after its last two regular-season games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Knights also missed out on an opportunity to compete in the Shoreline Conference Tournament. In the midst of the pandemonium, Bailey, a senior captain, earned All-Shoreline Conference First Team and All-State honors for Westbrook.
“I was extremely upset when I heard the news since this is my senior year, and I thought that our team had a good shot at winning Shorelines,” says Bailey about the cancellation of the season. “I was really hoping we were going to be able to play in the postseason, but I really didn’t want to get too excited about it, because I knew the chances of it happening were low.”
Bailey still made the most of her opportunities on the field during the fall campaign. A sweeper, Bailey helped the Knights play some stout defense as they held their opponents to one goal or less in four of their eight games on the year. On Oct. 19, Westbrook notched a 0-0 tie against an Old Saybrook team that it taken a 4-0 loss to in its season opener.
“My favorite moment from this season was when our team tied Old Saybrook because, up until that game, we had a pretty bad record,” Bailey says. “So, tying the No. 2 team shocked the conference and gave us a confidence boost.”
At the sweeper position, Bailey prided herself on preventing opposing teams from scoring as the final line of defense before the goalie. Westbrook Head Coach Janet Dickey says that Bailey is a defender through and through.
“Bailey will do anything to keep the ball out of the net, including picking it up and taking a penalty for it,” says Dickey. “We tried to get her to go up a line into the midfield for more of a scoring push, but she truly just wanted to defend. Bailey has one of the prettiest overheads, which makes defending her free hit difficult for other teams.”
Bailey has a great relationship with Coach Dickey and Assistant Coach Emily McCabe Alger. Bailey credits her coaches for her constant improvement throughout her four years with the Knights.
“My relationship with my head coach is very good, as well as the assistant coach,” Bailey says. “I’m going to miss them next year.”
Bailey started playing field hockey eight years ago, when her mother Tracey encouraged her to try out for the local team. Bailey’s mom also played field hockey when she was in high school.
From there, Bailey’s love for the sport took off, and she’s worked hard at improving in every season of her career at Westbrook. In her senior year, Bailey scored one goal and made two goal-line saves for the Knights, who earned wins over Haddam-Killingworth and Morgan to go with two ties versus Valley Regional and a draw with Old Saybrook.
“I love going to the turf with my friends to improve my game,” says Bailey. “I especially enjoy playing with my friend Lauren [Horne], who is our goalie. My favorite aspect of the game is definitely getting to play with all of my friends and spending so much time together with them.”
Aside from field hockey, Bailey competes for the girls’ outdoor track team at Westbrook. She also enjoys skiing on the weekends when she isn’t playing sports. Academically, Bailey is an honors student and has her sights set on majoring in biomedical engineering in college.
“I hope to attend either Stevens Institute of Technology or Colorado University Boulder,” Bailey says. “If I attend Stevens, then I will try to play field hockey. But if I got to Boulder, then I won’t play field hockey, because they don’t have a team there.”