Now it’s a passion, and it’s one she and some teammates are trying to spread.
Jackson-Reed is the only D.C. public school with a field hockey program, though it operates as a club team because the D.C. State Athletic Association does not sanction the sport.
Because of this, the program is self-funded through fees and fundraisers. Players have to find rides to away games. Kaminskas has noticed some players have a hard time getting equipment, from sticks to shin guards. On Tuesday, the Tigers opened their season with a game on the Tenleytown school’s football field, where they barely had any practice time before the 5-0 loss to Washington-Liberty.
The situation has prompted Kaminskas to become field hockey’s representative at Jackson-Reed, where she is leading efforts to grow the sport in her city. She is going to be working with a local club to fundraise and give out extra equipment to players.
“I think I have the leadership skills to face the problem,” Kaminskas said. “We have a lot of trouble with funding.”
Patricia Nantume founded the program in 2011 before handing it off to assistant Sarah Whitener. After 10 years on the coaching staff, Whitener retired last year and gave head coaching duties back to Nantume.
At the beginning of the season, Nantume’s job has consisted mostly of teaching the fundamentals rather than drawing up plays.
“Teach the game with passion; the players are going see that from you, and they’re going to play with passion,” Nantume said. “Mistakes can be corrected. But if the passion’s there, and the fundamentals are there, everything else falls in place.”
The Tigers struggled to get shots off against Washington-Liberty on Tuesday, and afterward Nantume huddled them together and asked them to think about their individual strengths and weaknesses. The team isn’t ready to knock off a perennial power — and more are coming on a tough schedule — but she’s confident in the players’ abilities to improve.
The team isn’t entirely filled with newcomers. Rigby Zentner was introduced to the sport at sleepaway camp in sixth grade and continued playing with the Beyond Sticks club in McLean. It made her a leader from the moment she stepped on the pitch as a freshman.
While many of the senior’s teammates don’t have close to the experience she does, she admires how they always pick each other up and show a willingness to improve.
“We like to call ourselves the most spirited team at the school,” Zentner said. “We’re just super, super close-knit.”
Not being in a state or conference with the sport sanctioned, Jackson-Reed won’t have a postseason. Its annual late-season game against Brookewood, this year on Oct. 28, will be treated as a one-game playoff.
