The Shippensburg University field hockey team took a preseason trip to Bermuda in August to come together as a team and learn from the pros. First-year head coach Tara Zollinger had a mission in mind to bring her players closer as a team, and activities like shopping trips, exploration of the culture and beach yoga did just the trick. 

“We started off our trip with a cultural immersion day where we learned how to play cricket,” Zollinger said. 

It was not all fun and games, though, with the team competing in two full-team exhibitions against top-level competition. 

“We had a game against the Bermuda national team, [we were] continuing to grow our game, and we really were working on defensive structures, counter structures and trying to execute better on our corners,” Zollinger said.

A big part of the Raiders beginning to mesh together as a unit goes to how accommodating the veteran senior class was with the addition of so many new faces. With the transition of a new head coach and multiple assistants along with the incoming class of freshman, it was important for the core players of the team to help establish a solid foundation for the rest of the crew to build on. 

“This senior class has been phenomenal since the day I stepped on campus,” Zollinger said. “If it wasn’t for them and their efforts [to be inclusive of everyone] and make sure everybody was on the same page and going the same direction, we wouldn’t have been able to have as beneficial as a time.”

The team divided up, with upperclassmen pairing off with the new players to continue building the trust between the group, training, competing and relaxing together to form a stronger bond.

“They [the senior class] realize that they need everybody on that roster to be successful,” Zollinger said. 

Every four years, SU sends several of its teams on preseason trips to strengthen the university’s programs. With the team beginning its season bonding and scrimmaging top competition, the Raiders look to have a season for the ages.

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