Reclaiming Victory
Before 2024, the Durham Academy Varsity Women’s Field Hockey team was unranked and on a three-year losing streak, a stark contrast to their conference championship titles in 2019 and 2020. In the seasons since, they acquired just three wins, leaving their former glory in the past. This season, however, the team ended the season with 12 wins and seven losses, the best record the school has seen in years. They also produced four all-conference players, placed third in the conference and achieved a sixth-place ranking in the playoffs. They ended the season with 41 goals scored and defeated a Charlotte team, Covenant Day School, for the first time in four years.
This transformation came from a shift in leadership and a renewed drive among the players to elevate the team. The 19 players accomplished this by going above and beyond– arriving early to practice, training together on the weekends and sharing meals to promote team bonding. They were led by Sydney Supica, who brought over a decade of collegiate coaching experience to Durham Academy. New to the school this season, Supica emphasized a relationship-centered coaching style, connecting with each player as a person first and a field hockey player second. She created a supportive environment where players felt comfortable to learn through mistakes and seek guidance. Alongside her assistant coach, Kelly Teagarden, Supica guided the team to the second round of playoffs. The team’s performance this season signals a promising future for Durham Academy’s field hockey program.
The Durham Academy varsity girls field hockey team huddles together before they play Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh, North Carolina, beating them four to one. The team’s goal for the 2024 season was to build a culture that was based on consistency, independence and accountability, and to have a better record than the previous years. “The team fought really well and knew they were trying to accomplish a goal and build a culture themselves,” Supica said. “They took a lot of autonomy and independence to create the culture they wanted to have and sustain it throughout the season.”
Freshman Kate Holladay stretches her leg with a resistance band during weight training. The team went to the weight room two to three times a week for thirty minutes after practice. They worked on speed, agility and strength. In the preseason, the team scrimmaged against Cary Academy and lost eight to zero. Supica said everyone was “shook” and was not expecting such a brutal loss to kick off the season. “We were all like, ‘Whoa, this is not how we projected our season to go,’’ Supica said. “And so we bought in after that game and really clicked during our first regular season game against them,” she said. “We took them into double overtime and shootouts, and I think that was the moment where the girls realized the work they had been putting in paid off and that they could be as successful as they wanted to be if they were willing to push those limits.” They lost two to one in the second game.
Logan Freedman (left) and Caroline Kantz (right) get ready for practice by putting on their shin guards. When they did not have a game, the team practiced five days a week. The girls get the first five minutes of practice to work on their own skills, and the rest of the hour and a half is dedicated to working on different game tactics such as attack, defense or pressing, and end with scrimmage. Supica said they scrimmage almost every day. “We scrimmage so we can work on the different skills that we are trying to improve throughout the season,” Supica said. “A lot of that for us was just focusing on how to identify simple passes, how to identify numbers in situations and how to identify how to attack on the front foot.”
The team high-fives Maya Patel as she runs onto the field after her name is announced. With players spanning all grade levels, their bond is evident both on and off the field as they wholeheartedly support each other. Supica said she wanted the team to find joy in the sport, not just focus on the competitive aspect. “A lot of people look at our team and recognize that we have a lot of fun,” Supica said. “We enjoyed hanging out with each other and being around each other’s presence. But we also knew how to be serious, and that’s not always easy at the high school level.”
Vera Ruth fights for the ball against Saint Mary’s School, the last game of the regular season. The team made it to the second round of playoffs before losing three to zero to Charlotte Latin. The team had not gotten that far in three years. Supica said she saw major improvement from the first game to the last. “We played some really great hockey and had some really great scoring opportunities,” she said. We played them earlier in the season and had lost four to one and had not gotten a single corner and a single shot off. For this game, we got multiple corner opportunities and only gave up a few corners. There were so many things that made it really full circle moment of, ‘look how far we've come.’”
Siena Hurley braids Ali Vaccaro’s hair on the bus on the way to Saint Mary’s School. Before each game, the team captains lead stretches and warm-ups. The team chants a pregame hype song about the Cavaliers, Durham Academy's mascot. They also wear matching ribbons in their hair during each game, which has been a Durham Academy field hockey tradition for a long time. The girls rotate who decides the ribbon color for each game.
The team eats Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt together to strengthen their bond beyond the field. Supica said some of her favorite memories from this season come from these off-field moments spent together. “I’m a very person-centered relationship focused coach, so being able to see them outside of field hockey is really important so they also know that I’m human and that I make mistakes and I’m not just who I show up as at practice,” Supica said. “It was so fun to just sit there and hear about their days, and that was a big moment where I felt like they really trusted me and respected what we were trying to build.”
The team practices a corner, which is a play that occurs when there is a foul inside the circle by the defensive team. At certain practices, Supica surprised the players with spontaneous team bonding days instead of refining plays and drills. “We did fun activities like filling a cup with water and carrying it on your stick to see how much water the team has at the end,” she said. “We did a few of those, a few team dinners and during some rainy practices we just met in the gym and hung out for 20 minutes. I got really lucky and had a great group. I always tell people that I have really good people, really kind people, and also really competitive people on the team.”
Fans and families watch the field hockey team play against Cary Academy. “We had a good parent following, which was awesome,” Supica said. “It made us feel really supported. Our crew grew throughout the season, and our parents were always at the game. One of our kids’ grandma came to every game.” Supica said she was drawn to Durham Academy because of the strong community it fosters.
Durham Acadmey’s athletic trainer Anna Sunday stretches Siena Hurley’s thigh after practice. Supica said the most common injury in field hockey for the team is ankle injuries because they play on grass. Since starting the strength and conditioning training, there have been less injuries on the field. Supica comes from college coaching and had high expectations for the team. “I challenged them every day and asked them to be 1% better than they were that morning or 1% better than they were in the last drill,” she said. “They really bought into that and bought into the high expectations, and tried to make each other better. It blew me away.”
Supica rallies the team before their game against Jordan High School. Supica said she coaches because she wants to create more opportunities where women can be led by women and due to the impact her previous coaches have had on her. “There's not enough positive women role models, especially in sports,” she said. “I'm still really close with coaches that coached me when I was younger, and I remember these women and how much they’ve impacted my life. If I can give back in the smallest amount by coaching and being able to impact someone’s day in a positive way, then that’s enough for me.” Supica applies this philosophy to her coaching style by attempting to understand each individual player and recognize that they are all their own, different people. She said she always asks them lots of questions about how their day was and ways she can support them. “Coaching is so much bigger than you, it’s so much more about the joy you can bring to people and if people know that you care about them, then that could change an entire moment for someone,” she said.
Logan Freedman (left) hugs Mae Sauer (right) after Mae scored a goal against Saint Mary’s School. Supica said the success from this season makes her proud and excited for the future. “It makes me think a lot about the future and the ability to continue to create a consistent culture and a consistent team,” she said. “We have a lot of room for growth, and we’re just building something that is going to be really exciting over the next few years.”