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11/11/2014 11:00 PMDuring her four years with Morgan field hockey, Kelly Thompson not only improved her skills as an athlete, but also helped the people around her by making optimism contagious with her positive attitude.
The senior co-captain and utility player opened her journey with the sport after her older sister and former Huskies' athlete Sarah began playing in 6th grade. Kelly tallied two goals with two assists to earn All-Shoreline Second Team honors this fall following an Honorable Mention in 2013 and Head Coach Melissa Fritze feels that she's also a strong leader both on and off the turf.
"I have coached Kelly for four years and she is always positive. She gets the team pumped up and prepared by leading by example," says Fritze. "I can always count on her to play her heart out every game. She is a selfless member of our team who is always willing to change positions when needed and never complains. The team looks up to her and she makes a personal connection to every girl. She is one of our captains, has taken on many responsibilities this year, and has never let me down."
Kelly states that both she and fellow captain Charlotte Limosani made staying upbeat an essential all throughout the campaign, which led to the Huskies performing much better than their final mark would lead one to believe.
"Charlotte and I work well together as captains and we just kept enforcing positivity," says Kelly, who also runs the 4x800 and sprint medley relays for indoor track, along with the 4x800, mile, and 800 in outdoor. "Our record of 3-12 didn't do justice for how hard we worked on the field. We kept telling the younger players that a loss was no one person's fault. We were a close team this year and, the closer we got, the more it helped our skills and camaraderie."
The ever-persistent grins on Kelly's face come from home and while she got the blood moving for her squad, last year's All-Shoreline accolade pushed her to go further this time around.
"Being positive is just how I am and I grew up like that as my parents enforced positivity. I'm just always smiling. We always like to give little pep talks before the games and play songs that we all love to help get in the mentality to win and work hard," Kelly says. "The Honorable Mention last year really enforced goals for me this year. I was shocked to win it last year, yet it showed me what I could do."
Coach Fritze adds that Kelly has a swift shot in the middle that just got even better over time.
"Kelly controls the center of the field with her amazing speed and stick work," says Fritze. "She has improved each year because of her dedication and willingness to learn and improve herself. She will be missed next year and hard to replace."
As the minutes played for Kelly increased through the four seasons, so did her internal desire to step up her game and earn bigger spots on the club.
"My freshman year we had five freshmen so we never played varsity. Yet that never affected how badly I wanted to play because I always want to play," says Kelly, who is looking to study elementary education in college. "Sophomore year, I started subbing in for varsity and that encouraged me to work harder. It's just a great feeling seeing how much you have to improve to help everyone out."
While her tenure included playing alongside a sibling, Kelly concludes by saying that the Huskies were like a second family filled with support.
"Field hockey is always my favorite part of the year," says Kelly, who thanks her family, coaches, and team. "Freshman and sophomore years, I played with my sister, who is my role model, so I tried to do the moves she did. These girls are like my sisters and, even when I was having a bad day, I always left practice in a good mood."