Congratulations to Kyra Demarest for being nominated as female student athlete of the month for November! Demarest was chosen for this award for her outstanding efforts in field hockey.
Demarest has been playing field hockey for 10 years, taking after her sister who is 7 years older than her. She has been playing for West Morris Central all four years of her high school career.
Surprisingly, Demarest’s favorite memory of field hockey at Central, is “one of our 6 am practices”. Demarest said it was “freezing cold outside, snow everywhere, and [the team] started making snow angels on the turf.” These memories were a part of why Demarest loves the West Morris Team so much.
On the other hand, field hockey is not for the faint-hearted. Demarest says that her least favorite part, and the hardest part of field hockey, is the strenuous conditioning. Getting in proper shape for the season is not an easy task, and the pre-season is a thing of nightmares.
Similarly, the team’s toughest game this season (Demarest’s senior season) was against Chatham. The first time they played them this year, they lost by a wide margin. However, even though the second time around was a loss as well, the team had clearly improved and played them much better.
The head coach for the field hockey program recently changed from Coach Barnett to Coach Buchanan. Demarest explained how the change in coaching took some getting used to but was “not bad because they are both great coaches.”
Demarest would advise her freshman self to “start conditioning early, because it doesn’t get easier.” This is great advice considering the nature of the sport and the need to be in peak shape.
Looking ahead to university, Demarest is currently considering studying pre-med at George Washington University. She plans to most likely pursue club field hockey in college.
Lastly, Demarest would like to thank her teammates and coaches for this award. Congratulations on this accomplishment, Kyra!