Liberty University comes to the Rock on Saturday afternoon to scrimmage with Head Coach Emily Dinsmore and our Lady Mountaineers Field Hockey team. This will be the first of 10 treks to Boone, North Carolina and back over the next three months and there’s a certain buzz about Saturday.
Boone is a special place to a number of folks, myself included. Other people in and around Carroll County feel the same way but with much deeper ties to the School. Both Mr & Mrs Doug Reitzel and Mr & Mrs Chase Robinson attended the Sun Belt school and not only graduated but left with their soul mates.
App State is relevant to my efforts for a number of reasons. It’s a Division One school with a sports marketing team that works year around to support every program the School has. Each year there are new faces in place and Saturday I will meet the folks that I am set to work with this season.
Justin Bates is the Marketing Lead for Field Hockey and Willie Casstevens is the Assistant Director of Marketing and both of these young Men will play a major role in the quality of our efforts for the ten home contests.
Looking forward to meeting them both !
Mr. Layne McNary is a recent App State graduate 🎓 and has earned the right to hold down the Top Spot for both Field Hockey 🏑 and Tennis 🎾 on The Rock. Looking forward to meeting him on Saturday as well as the remainder of the Marketing team that will be in place for the season.
There’s one of the key 🔑 phrases in why its so enjoyable of an experience each season, Marketing Team. The prep work for the game begins roughly two hours before the game and will involve double digit members.
” It’s only ” are two words of my least favorite ways people describe their take on something. It doesn’t matter, it’s only Field Hockey is the description that a non-fan of the Sport might describe what but don’t tell that to anyone involved with the program, on the field or off at App State.
The sport is still heavily influenced by players from other parts of the World 🌎 and ASU is no different. The roster this year has eight players born outside of the United States.
The difficulty in correctly pronouncing the names and home towns of the players and coaches on the Field Hockey roster is without a doubt what led to the opportunity to join the group a few years ago. Most people aren’t overly familiar with the sport and then when you add in the degree of difficulty in getting things correct when holding the microphone 🎤, equals there wasn’t a line around the block waiting to be the Voice of App State Field Hockey.
Using one example, our #21 is a hard working young Lady from Saint Cugat, Barcelona. Her name is Noa Ginjaume Matas. Saying that in a sentence is a challenge on its own but when you add in the effort to energize it in the manner that I do, it magnifys the degree of difficulty ten fold.
Let’s not forget that every visiting team has a similar style roster and you only see those names one time. Most folks in the sport have become willing to accept less than perfect when it comes to this but I try my best to get the job done, syllable by syllable everytime out.
How does any of this tie back into things here in Carroll County ? Every opportunity to work with a group of folks that care about what they’re doing creates an opportunity to learn from it. There are a number of things that I try to institute at the High School level based on what I see down at Boone.
Most everything involving cross over support from other Student Athletes stems from ASU.
“It’s Time for another App State corner!”
Emily has made yet another Top Shelf hire for her Coaching staff this season 👏. Her credentials pop across the World in the sport and as I’m winding down from a 60 second speel full of energy, I will try and close it out by saying Assistant Coach Pima Iturraspe correctly.
Our other Assistant Coach just got married during the off season. Congratulations to Azure Lokos. Very kind and dedicated young Lady that been a treat to watch work.
One more Big Thing is we have added a Press Box to the facility and Saturday will be its debut ! It will be interesting to see 👀 how the transition will play out.
The photo 📷 above was taken from a distance and at Sunset when we were down there visiting this Summer so the quality won’t be winning any awards but you get the idea.
Each year has involved a different team of young people working alongside a 60 year old man who gives it everything he has to give and the level of enjoyment is directly tied to the quality of people that show up to make the game as enjoyable for the fans and the players. This year its begins with Mr. Bates, Mr. Casstevens & Mr. McNary and I like my chances that their dedication to his efforts will match my own.
App State is special, Boone isn’t a place in as much its a State of Mind. Being able to play a role in their Sports machine is nothing short of a Blast.
We have a facility on the rise, we have a terrific coaching staff and its my job to try and make sure everyone there to watch the game enjoys themselves ! Even after five decades of holding a 🎤🎙🎤 its Awesome to feel this level of excitement ahead of the new season.
Go Mountaineers !
A.S.P.N on The Hill 