WESTERN RESERVE ACADEMY STUDENT EARNS TOP FIELD HOCKEY HONORS


Athlete Named Among Top 15 Players in Ohio

HUDSON, Ohio – Western Reserve Academy student Emily Clegg was named an All-Ohio field hockey player for 2009 by the Ohio High School Athletic Association. The 17-year-old varsity Pioneer player was also selected as this year’s Most Valuable Player by the Northeastern Ohio Field Hockey League and was awarded the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Best of the Best Award for the second year in a row.

Clegg, who was recruited by Division I schools, plans to play field hockey in the Ivy League when she graduates from Reserve next year. “My favorite thing about playing field hockey is that it is not just a game that requires athletic ability but a game which requires a lot of thinking. This makes it both a challenging and fun sport,” she says.
Clegg also plays for a club team based in Columbus, Ohio, for which she travels to several tournaments a year. For the past six years she has participated in the USA Field Hockey Future Program and was selected for the U14, U16 and U19 National Future teams.
Clegg began playing field hockey in the seventh grade at Hudson Middle School. A club soccer player, Clegg at first didn’t have any interest in field hockey. But a try-out for the school team led to a lifelong passion. “Honestly, I never thought I would end up playing field hockey in high school, but I fell in love with the game,” she says.

Reserve’s field hockey coach Marie Fiedler has coached Clegg for four years, beginning freshman year when she played varsity. She says it was clear right away that Clegg was “a natural” who “quickly translated previous soccer experience into an awareness of field sense.”
Voted the Reserve team’s Most Valuable Player this year, Clegg “can beat most opponents to the ball and move quickly out of their space with great agility,” says Fiedler. More importantly, Clegg was team MVP “because she controlled the mid-field, initiating most attacks by finding holes in the opposition’s defense and placing the ball in a position so that the forwards could mount a swift attack.”

This year the Pioneers faced down early uncertainty – with only four returning players – to post a winning season. Clegg, one of three captains, provided experience to a young, inexperienced team. Members quickly gelled to form a formidable squad.
“The key to our field hockey team’s success this year was the special bond we had as a team on and off the field. We truly were each other’s best friends. This created a good chemistry on the field and allowed each of us to play our best,” says Clegg.