Our story will live on forever

Athlete diary

Friday, Nov. 20, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by DARWIN WEIGEL Lauren Bartley, left, and Becca Portillo finished their careers with the Patuxent field hockey team this fall. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

"The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have."

Four years ago, we began a journey that in time would alter our lives forever.

As freshmen, we were the only girls to have the privilege of being some part of the varsity program. The girls that towered before us, literally, that season possessed an emotion toward field hockey that we had not been exposed to yet: heart. Field hockey meant the world to them.

We were still attempting to discover what this foreign sport meant to us. As we watched that season come to an end, ironically, at the hands of Glenelg, we experienced our first encounter with the emotion that has always driven Patuxent field hockey.

We watched as tears flowed from the girls we looked up to, not knowing what to do. All we could do was wait for our time, the time that would arrive only a year after.

For the next three years, we experienced some of the best and worst times life could have thrown at us. Moments that ultimately defined who we are today.

Field hockey has taught us life lessons we would not have learned anywhere else.

We learned what it truly means to be a part of a team and if you just believe, anything can happen. We learned that hearts can be broken in the blink of an eye, and the only way to mend them is through the persistence to become a champion.

People learn these lessons every day, but we don't think we would have understood them the way we do now if it hadn't been for Patuxent field hockey.

As seniors, watching your final season come to a close is the most unexplainable moment that you could ever experience. You feel confused, lost, abandoned and heartbroken.

It's as if what you've held so close to your heart for so long has been ripped out, never to return. You long for this feeling to leave, but sadly, the healing process takes time. You attempt to fill up that empty space with new distractions only to discover that the feeling will never go away. Closure has never been this difficult.

As pain stricken as we are, there will always be that reminder of our experience on Patuxent field hockey. It really will never leave us.

Whatever our futures hold for us, whether that means joining another team, we will never forget the memories we've made in the past four years.

We long to see the memories we've created continue on with the future generations of this team. We wish for them to remember the legacy we've left behind, only to use that as motivation to fuel their hearts as the new faces of this Patuxent team. We may be graduating, but the tradition we've lived by will not.

Not too long ago, this team was one of humble origins. To lose a game by only five or six goals was considered a success. The Panthers were outsiders attempting to play a game that wasn't meant for them to play.

The program would still be that way without the dedication of Lynn Powell, the head coach that pulled this team from its lowest point. She has basically given her life to this program, and without her, we would not be the team we've become today. There would not be banners displaying the success of this program if it weren't for her.

She's able to take freshmen who have never held a field hockey stick, and in a mere four years, mold them into players with reputations known around the state.

We just want to say thank you Coach for all that you've done for us and Patuxent. You've taught us to never give up in life and always live to the fullest. You've put up with us and kept us in line as well, which is something not many people have been able to do. Without you, we wouldn't be the girls we are today. We love you Coach.

To all the girls who became our family this season, we want you to know you guys mean the world to us. We will never forget the memories we share with all of you. There's something special about our team that no one will understand except for us. No one can mimic this team because what we did cannot be repeated.

We'll remember everything from our awkward conversations at practices and halftime to countless gatherings involving food.

We'll remember the traditional postgame pictures, Jenna's braids, pump-up speeches and gifts provided by Coach. We'll remember those practices which contained work horses and two laps.

We won't forget the parties, especially the Halloween festivities, and scavenger hunts that sometimes got out of control. Most of all, we will never forget any of you.

We love you all, and we're happy to say we were a part of this 2009 team.

Wherever life takes us, Patuxent field hockey will always be in our hearts.

This has been our story and we hoped you've enjoyed it.

It will live on forever.

Your Patuxent High School field hockey seniors,

Lauren Bartley and Becca Portillo