University of North Carolina Athletics
Ali Rushton and Morgan Goetz as the Tar Heels kick off 2017.
Preseason Means Beach Trip For Tar Heels
August 11, 2017 | Field Hockey
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The UNC field hockey team kicked off the 2017 preseason Friday morning in Chapel Hill before departing for training camp in Virginia Beach, Va. Without a home field on campus, the Tar Heels will spend the next week in a hotel on the beach, with two-a-day practices at a nearby turf.
"I think this is going to be one giant team-building exercise," said UNC head coach Karen Shelton, who is heading into her 37th season and recognizes that this one will provide some unique challenges. The preseason trip was born of necessity – UNC's former home, Francis E. Henry Stadium, has been leveled as part of a major athletics construction project on campus, and the team's new facility won't be finished until August of 2018. The Tar Heels will play and practice during the 2017 season at Duke's field in Durham, but chose to relocate for preseason.
"It would have been tough to schedule at Duke with both of us in two-a-days," Shelton said. "Virginia Beach is a good location and we knew we could play Old Dominion at the end of the week. And staying at the beach adds a different element."
Beyond practices and workouts, the schedule includes nightly team dinners and a squad talent show. (Follow @UNCFieldHockey on Twitter for more on the fun.) The team will scrimmage at ODU on Thursday before returning to Chapel Hill that afternoon.
"We're really excited to get up there and get on the field with a stick and ball, but we're going to have so much time together doing some fun stuff," Shelton said Friday as her team wrapped up photo day and prepared to board the bus. "We won't be as scattered as we normally are when we're on campus. It's based out of necessity but we're going to make the most of it, as we will with this entire season."
"It's all about attitude – it's not what happens, it's how you respond to it. We're really looking forward to it."
Another unique element to the season is the size of the Tar Heel squad, 24 players, which is the smallest in recent years. There is just one senior, forward Gab Major, on the roster, which also includes six newcomers. (One of them – sophomore transfer Feline Guenther – won the team's fitness testing on Friday morning. "She killed it," Shelton said. "It was nice to see a newcomer lead the way.")
The Tar Heels are missing a player for the start of camp, as junior Ashley Hoffman is in Pennsylvania competing in the Pan American Cup as part of the U.S. National Team. On Friday, she scored a goal for the U.S. against Chile just about the same time her teammates were arriving in Virginia Beach and heading out to dinner. Hoffman will join the Tar Heels in Virginia on Monday after the Pan Am Cup wraps up.
After returning to North Carolina next week, Tar Heels will scrimmage at Duke on Saturday morning (Aug. 19). UNC opens the season on Aug. 26 against Michigan at the ACC-Big Ten Challenge in Iowa City, Iowa.
"I think this is going to be one giant team-building exercise," said UNC head coach Karen Shelton, who is heading into her 37th season and recognizes that this one will provide some unique challenges. The preseason trip was born of necessity – UNC's former home, Francis E. Henry Stadium, has been leveled as part of a major athletics construction project on campus, and the team's new facility won't be finished until August of 2018. The Tar Heels will play and practice during the 2017 season at Duke's field in Durham, but chose to relocate for preseason.
"It would have been tough to schedule at Duke with both of us in two-a-days," Shelton said. "Virginia Beach is a good location and we knew we could play Old Dominion at the end of the week. And staying at the beach adds a different element."
Beyond practices and workouts, the schedule includes nightly team dinners and a squad talent show. (Follow @UNCFieldHockey on Twitter for more on the fun.) The team will scrimmage at ODU on Thursday before returning to Chapel Hill that afternoon.
"We're really excited to get up there and get on the field with a stick and ball, but we're going to have so much time together doing some fun stuff," Shelton said Friday as her team wrapped up photo day and prepared to board the bus. "We won't be as scattered as we normally are when we're on campus. It's based out of necessity but we're going to make the most of it, as we will with this entire season."
"It's all about attitude – it's not what happens, it's how you respond to it. We're really looking forward to it."
Another unique element to the season is the size of the Tar Heel squad, 24 players, which is the smallest in recent years. There is just one senior, forward Gab Major, on the roster, which also includes six newcomers. (One of them – sophomore transfer Feline Guenther – won the team's fitness testing on Friday morning. "She killed it," Shelton said. "It was nice to see a newcomer lead the way.")
The Tar Heels are missing a player for the start of camp, as junior Ashley Hoffman is in Pennsylvania competing in the Pan American Cup as part of the U.S. National Team. On Friday, she scored a goal for the U.S. against Chile just about the same time her teammates were arriving in Virginia Beach and heading out to dinner. Hoffman will join the Tar Heels in Virginia on Monday after the Pan Am Cup wraps up.
After returning to North Carolina next week, Tar Heels will scrimmage at Duke on Saturday morning (Aug. 19). UNC opens the season on Aug. 26 against Michigan at the ACC-Big Ten Challenge in Iowa City, Iowa.
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