Mia Stewart was contemplating her imminent future. “I’m currently undecided, but in college, I would like to pursue environmental studies,” offered the 17-year-old senior, a captain on University City’s field hockey squad. “Climate change, biodiversity…
“I took AP Environmental Science last year as a junior. I also took a course over the summer on oceans: sustainability, over-fishing, and pollution.”
Asked what someone who knew her four years ago would say about her growth as a person, Stewart responded, “(I’ve grown in) taking people’s opinions into consideration and coming to a conclusion.” Pretty thoughtful for a response during an unexpected interview on the upper hockey field at UCHS on a Wednesday afternoon.
Stewart, M.J. Andres, Samantha Sobka, and the rest of eight-year (most of that as head) coach Amber Zimmermann’s minions are thriving within the hothouse that is Centurion field hockey, and its sister program, Myto, a club team that she and her predecessor Krista Jackson, her “best friend” now coaching at La Jolla Country Day, run in the offseason.
“It’s like a second family,” says Andres, a senior forward. “You can take your problems to someone (on the team). We’re very open. We’re very encouraging (to one another).”
M.J. tells of a nerve-wracking tryout three years ago in front of Zimmermann that turned out well. “It’s the first thing I tried out for where I had no prior experience. But Amber told me recently that back then she saw a lot of intensity, a lot of drive. She could tell that from how I went for the ball and kept trying.”
The Cents, at an early juncture, are 4-4-1 on the season, with Eastern League play yet ahead. UC has already recorded two overtime wins over Open Division or equivalent teams, Torrey Pines and San Marcos.
“Our coach likes to have us play good teams (in pre-league). That way we’re killing it when league starts,” says Alli Podhorsky, a sophomore right defender.
Zimmermann says, regarding the stage of development of field hockey on the West Coast, that in the last six years they have begun to teach the girls a reverse hit. She had a player demonstrate it. The hitter, instead of swinging the stick out to her right, swings it to her left, lays it close to the ground, and whacks the ball with the back of the stick.
Luca Della Monache, the father of team member Flavia and an assistant coach who played on the Italian national team, says field hockey is not played only by women in Europe. “But it’s people like Amber who put in the time, not to get rich but because they love the sport, that keep so-called ‘minor sports’ like field hockey going.”
Samantha Sobka, another captain, senior, and left defender, is interested in taking law. “I think social justice is important. I want to make the world a better place. Racial matters have been in the news a lot the last few years.”
