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10/04/2019 12:00 AMJacqui Sandor displays her skills on both the turf and the ice as a member two varsity teams at Daniel Hand High School. Jacqui plays for the Tigers’ field hockey and girls’ ice hockey squads and is serving as a senior captain of the field hockey team this fall. Jacqui’s athletic career began at the rink, but then she walked into the world of field hockey as a middle schooler in Madison.
“I started skating when I was around two years old, and I was playing on a team when I was eight,” says Jacqui. “Field hockey came a little bit later for me, when I was in the 7th grade.”
Jacqui has guided the Hand field hockey team to a solid start of 5-2 in the 2019 season. After having previously played on the attack, she made the move to the midfield this year. Tigers’ Head Coach Sue Leckey has high praise for Jacqui, who will continue her field hockey career at Williams College on a scholarship.
“Jacqui is a person who has always aimed high at everything she does,” Leckey says. “She prepares well for every game and plays hard. She’s very adaptable, and that’s one of the reasons why we moved her this year.”
As a sophomore starter, Jacqui helped Hand take home a state championship by scoring a goal when the team earned a 2-1 win over New Canaan in the Class M state final. Last year, she netted eight goals to go with 10 assists on her way to garnering All-SCC and All-State honors for the Tigers, who finished at 13-6-2.
Now a senior, Jacqui has no intentions of slowing down, and she’s looking forward to seeing what her team can accomplish this season.
“We’re all excited about what has happened, but there’s still room to grow as a team, even as we’re winning,” Jacqui says. “There’s always ways to improve. We have so many younger players coming into our program.”
Jacqui enjoys helping up-and-coming athletes develop their skills on the field. In the spring, Jacqui participates in a program called Girls Coach Girls Run, where she works with younger field hockey players.
“I’ve always loved team sports,” says Jacqui. “Seeing the young girls in town come along is amazing. Many of them will go on to play varsity sports.”
Jacqui started playing ice hockey when she was eight. She was inspired to play the sport after watching her brother Kevin at practice one day.
“Once I saw that, I was hooked,” Jacqui says. “It was so cool. I couldn’t wait to play. I think in some ways it’s been an advantage for me in my field hockey.”
Jacqui comes from a family with a rich history in athletics. Jacqui’s older sister Kaitlyn played ice hockey for Hand, her father Kevin played hockey at Cheshire, and her mother Kimberly was an All-American gymnast at Stamford.
“I guess I couldn’t miss when it came to sports,” says Jacqui.
An outstanding student, Jacqui likes biology and is also interested in computer sciences—a subject that her sister studies in college. Jacqui got involved with robotics at Hand and was a member of the school’s traveling team during her first two years of high school.
When she graduates from Hand, Jacqui will play for the field hockey team at Williams College, a Division III school in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Jacqui quickly fell in love with Williams after visiting the school.
“The campus and the academics will be perfect for me,” Jacqui says. “And the scenery in and around the campus is beautiful.”