Girls’ field hockey off to strong start with return of former coach

Cass Melo, Assistant Opinion Editor

October 5, 2023

Freshman Courtney Shifrin dribbles the ball past an opponent during the field hockey game on Sept. 22; Algonquin beat Sutton 4-0.

Science teacher Daniel Welty has returned to coaching field hockey after a three year hiatus, and is leading the team to success with the help of senior captains Annie Harwich and Sylvia Zelnick and junior captain Lindsey Brown.

Welty originally left his head coaching position at Algonquin in the fall of 2020 after 14 years as the varsity head coach and five years as the junior varsity head coach. This season, he is excited to be back and has established “opportunity” as the team’s mantra. The team currently has a record of 7-1.

“It’s a new coach, new season, new team and with all that comes new opportunities,” Welty said. “I think [the team has] really embraced this free-flowing way we’ve played.”

Brown agreed with Welty’s assessment and is happy to have him back as part of the team.

“His return has been nothing but positive,” Brown said. “He’s created this increase in team culture with a chance every day to seize opportunities to get better and become a better person.”

While his return was a major transition for the team, they have quickly embraced his return.

“They had to adapt to a new coach, style and formation on the field, so there was definitely a learning curve to that,” Welty said. “When we finally played Leominster, we were down 2-0 in the first few minutes so that was a real test of who we are as a team. That’s where we really found how to raise our level of play and execution.”

New players have stepped up this season, including leading scorer junior Annelise Gingrich, who is playing on the varsity team for her first year.

“Annelise is such a powerhouse,” Brown said. “We’ve had a lot of girls playing new positions and have found a great rhythm and a way to keep going forward.”

Welty’s coaching strategy revolves around scrimmages filled with breaks to discuss different playing choices and opportunities for success.

“It’s really about practicing the way you’d play the game,” Welty said. “So just empowering those girls to make their own decisions in-game and be in control of how they play.”

Brown, Harwich and Zelnick continue an old pre-game tradition of forming a team circle and clapping in unison while each player chooses an individual goal for the game.

“It gets everyone in the right mindset for the day,” Brown said. “We are always so good and kind to each other. We really have a really special group of girls.”

Welty looks forward to the opening of an Algonquin turf field as part of the GonkPlex project, as the team has practiced and played off campus at the 9/11 Memorial Field in Southborough since 2016.

“It’ll be great to be back [at Algonquin],” Welty said. “To be able to walk out there and play [as] the first varsity field hockey [team] on Algonquin’s turf as coach will be super exciting.”