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Field hockey teams go to extremes to build team spirit
Members of Schuylerville’s junior varsity and varsity field hockey teams started the fall sports season with a new sense of confidence and camaraderie after participating in the Adirondack Extreme Adventure Course. Adirondack Extreme is a high-wire adventure course set in the height of the forest. It includes obstacle courses and challenges with zip lines, suspended rope bridges, swings, slides, nets and ladders. Twenty-four team members and two of the district’s field hockey coaching staff participated.

“The team members gained a tremendous sense of self-confidence after going through this experience,” comments Kristen Miller, field hockey coach. “They realized that if they set their sights on a goal, they could achieve it with hard work and perseverance. They also learned what it meant to be a part of a team, supporting each other, communicating with one another and applauding each other’s successes.”

The agenda for the day focused on team-building activities in five separate courses that grew progressively more difficult. Participants were required to scale rock walls, walk tight ropes, move between logs suspended over the forest floor, swing on “Tarzan-like” ropes, ride “zip lines” and more. “We talked each other through the tough spots, cheered each other on and celebrated together as they finished each course,” Miller says. “It was a great team-building exercise.”

Schuylerville’s field hockey players are using what they learned in the fall sports season, reflecting on what they learned while participating in the adventure course. “The girls have always had a true sisterhood among them, but I think the Adirondack Extreme experience only served to strengthen those bonds,” Miller adds. “It was a truly wonderful experience for all of us and we’ll make this part of our preseason training every year.”