By: Lauren Mitchell, Co-Editor-in-Chief
River Hill senior Caroline Kral recently fulfilled her lifelong dreams of committing to a college for Field Hockey. Washington College, a competitive school in Chestertown, Maryland, asked Caroline the awe-inspiring question, “Will you be on my 2019 recruiting roster?” With tear-filled eyes, Caroline accepted this commitment, stating that she is “so happy, I finally got to where I want to be.”
Caroline has been playing field hockey as a goalie since she was 8 years old, after being a last minute goalie on her older sisters team. “I got on the gear and went into the goal. After the tournament, the coaches told me that I have a natural talent and they want me to play for them,” she says depicting her entrance into the sport.
Making the varsity team as a freshman, Caroline has had an amazing experience on the River Hill girls field hockey team. Caroline’s teammate, Senior Kaylin Pham says that “she’s also one of the most encouraging teammates I’ve ever played with. She’s constantly giving compliments and helping with little critiques to play better. The team chemistry grows a lot when Caroline steps on the field. She’s very fundamental on our field.”
Her experience has not always been perfect, Caroline once had a club coach who “would tell me that I would never be anything in field hockey, how I am an all around the bad goalie and she doesn’t know how I would make a high school team let alone that club game. Hearing that all the time really brought me down. I worked so hard to get to where I was.” Despite this hardship within the sport, Caroline persevered and continued her passion on a different team.
Caroline is a vital player for the team, as senior Erin Jeffery says that “having Caroline there takes away most of my stress knowing the other team is going to have to get through 10 field players and Caroline.” After talking to many other teammates, the immense team chemistry is clear. Natalie Nichols stated that “I absolutely love playing with Caroline. She’s great at communicating where to be on the field.”
She always knew that she wanted to pursue field hockey in the future, and during her “ Senior year, it started to get serious about me wanting to play in college. I started going to scouting tournaments because I wanted to play college so badly. It became really stressful.” Caroline had her heart set on Washington College and worked endlessly in school to maintain high grades and a good SAT score that could get her recruited.
When asked about balancing sports while with school, Caroline says that this is “extremely hard, I have to stick by a tight schedule to make sure I get everything done, I always write on sticky notes what I need to get done and how long it will take. Playing a sport taught me that I can not procrastinate.” River Hills’ intense nature pushed Caroline to be her best.
River Hill students continue to do amazing things, and Caroline Kral proves just how outstanding our community really is.