Factors like balance, coordination, power and speed make a great athlete. Different sports emphasize various skills and utilize different strategies, but they all work together to make athletes well-rounded and more adaptable. 

Coach Stanfield

When looking at similarities between sports, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Elia Stanfield believes it is important to look at the way the athletes move in their sport. 

“Basketball and lacrosse go together,” Stanfield said. “The movements the athletes have to make, the dodges and the way they have to handle a ball and keep it on the outside of their body away from a defender are very similar.”  

Similarly, field hockey and soccer have similar strategies. The spacing and strategy of the athletes on the field as well as the energy systems used during play are similar. 

“Obviously field hockey has different stick skills compared to soccer, where you’re using your feet,” Stanfield said. “Different things come into play, but at the end of the day, athletes still need to have agility, be quick, explosive and strong.” 

Although there are numerous athletes who play both field hockey and lacrosse, Stanfield believes that the two sports don’t have much in common besides the use of sticks. The stickwork itself is dissimilar as well.

“They are completely different sports. I would say the only things that transfers are that you need to have hand-eye coordination and quick movements at your wrist,” Stanfield said. “The way kids move on the field and the strategy of the game is completely different.” 

Despite the differences between each sport Hockaday offers, the majority of them share similarities in their core lifts and lift progressions throughout the season.

“Almost every sport has core lifts, meaning big lifts like deadlifts, squats and bench press. This is how you gain strength rather quickly,” Stanfield said. “The assist lifts are more toward sport-specific training. We do a lot of strengthening all around the hip and knee that can mitigate knee injuries, and we do a lot of ankle work.”

At the beginning of a season, lifts focus on stabilization and strength, which are the first step to getting into shape. After establishing a base level, athletes progress to hypertrophy, gaining muscle mass and strength prior to explosive movements. 

For field hockey, softball, tennis and golf, athletes work on additional rotation anti-rotation movements. 

“You’re doing a lot of rotation on one side of your body in these sports, and we have to make sure you’re not unbalanced,” Stanfield said. “We want to make sure you’re strong on your left and right sides. If you have imbalances, injuries happen.” 

Stanfield believes that no matter how many sports an athlete plays, the most important trait they possess is their mindset. 

“Self-motivation, effort, hard work, coming in with a good attitude: that is what we want in here,” Stanfield said. “It comes from the top down. How the captains of a team come in here is usually how the rest of the team comes in.” 

Lucia Ubinas 

Sophomore Lucia Ubinas has played basketball since she was in first grade and field hockey since eighth grade. She has played both sports at Hockaday since eighth grade. 

“I love them both,” Ubinas said. “My favorite used to be basketball, but field hockey has crept up on me.” 

Outside of team practices, Ubinas trains for basketball by practicing various shots in her driveway and honing her skills and passes. For field hockey, she practices her stick skills on a square block of turf. 

“They definitely share hand-eye coordination and running and fitness,” Ubinas said. “They are different though. Field hockey is more long distance because you’re running the entire time and basketball is a consecutive series of sprint after sprint after sprint.” 

Although Ubinas shoots to score in both sports, the technique for each is different. In basketball, she focuses on her wrist snap. In field hockey, she works on her swing.? 

“I do think they complement each other because when you work out, run and lift weights, it helps for both sports,” Ubinas said. “A higher vertical helps for both though it does complement basketball more.” 

Ubinas’s favorite part of being a multi-sport athlete is being able to take a break from either sport. 

“I don’t get sick of one sport,” Ubinas said. “After repeating something over and over, like basketball or field hockey, you’re like ‘okay, I need a break from this.’ And then, you have another sport to play, so you have a good variety.” 

Peyton Johnson 

Junior Peyton Johnson has rowed and danced at Hockaday since her freshman year.? 

“I’ve been dancing since I was a child, so when I came into Upper School, I wanted to take dance as my fine art because I didn’t have time to take lessons outside of school anymore,” Johnson said. “It’s a good way for me to continue that hobby, but rowing is definitely my main sport.” 

In July, Johnson won the national title in the Under 17 Doubles event at the US Rowing Youth National Regatta. To stay in shape for rowing during the winter, Johnson ergs, runs and lifts with teammates.

”The grit that rowing takes is definitely different from the grit that I have for dance,” she said. 

After two years of rowing, she said the strokes and motions feel like second nature.  

“Because of this, I need to focus on getting stronger to be able to propel the boat down the course as fast as possible,” Johnson said. “The grit is the hard work that I need to give every day so that I am constantly working towards my goal.” 

For dance, Johnson often rehearses choreography for both her dance class and the drill team on her own.? As one of the dancers with lower technique in her class, she is able to learn a lot from other girls.

“For dance, I have the strength, but I need to build my technique,” Johnson said. “So, the grit, as I said, is different because for dance, I am always learning new skills or concepts and having to apply those to the art form.” 

Despite being two very different sports, she believes that her dance experience helped her greatly at the beginning of her rowing career. 

“In rowing, a big thing is balance and keeping the boat steady because you want to make sure your oars are getting in the water as much as possible,” Johnson said. “I think the balance I gained from dancing really helped me in the beginning to focus more on the other technique aspects of rowing because I was already pretty balanced.” 

Johnson loves the different people that she has met through her sports. 

“The rowing team is such a tight knit group, because you see them every single day for every single practice,” she said. “But I have a different group of friends for dance who focus on different things. It’s nice to have two separate groups.”