The Wesleyan field hockey team played their home opener against Western New England University on Wednesday, Sept. 11. The game was an exciting occasion for two reasons. First, because the Cardinals secured a dominant 5–2 victory over the Golden Bears. And second, because it featured the competitive debut of Hicks Field: the program’s new home.

The field was christened by Annabel Cincotta ’25. who became the first player to score on Hicks Field when she snuck a backhand by the Golden Bears goalie. Three other Cardinals went on to score, including Sarah Porter ’27 who notched her first multi-goal game.

This cutting-edge field is bright blue, featuring Poligras Paris GT zero, the first and only carbon-zero turf in the world. It is composed of 80% sugarcane and saves 73 tons of carbon dioxide compared to conventional turf, earning the distinction of being certified climate-neutral. The turf also does not require any irrigation. It was also the official turf during the 2024 Olympics. Although every NESCAC program except Williams, Colby, and Conn. College plays on AstroTurf, the unique Poligras GT zero is exclusive to Hicks Field.

Upgrading the field hockey team’s playing facilities from their longtime home of Smith Field had been a dream of the program for many years, ever since head coach Christine Kemp was hired in the summer of 2019.

“When we brought Coach Kemp on board, one of the first things that we talked about was her desire to pursue an AstroTurf surface because field hockey is meant to be played on AstroTurf, not regular turf,” Frank V. Sica Director of Athletics Mike Whalen ’83 said. “So she explained that the fact that we didn’t have AstroTurf was hurting us in recruiting.”

Captain Georgia Adams ’26 provided insight into why AstroTurf is so important for properly playing the sport.

“It’s sort of like putting in golf on a green versus a fairway, the ball just moves so much quicker,” Adams said. “You don’t get caught in the pellets and the long grass and you can basically execute everything at a faster speed and it just makes a much smoother, quicker game.” 

It wasn’t until last fall, though, that this dream finally looked like it was ready to come to fruition.

In their 2023 season, the field hockey team boasted their best record in well over a decade, going 5–5 in conference and 9–7 overall. The team was also nationally ranked for the first time since 2010, reaching as high as no. 16 in the country.

“After last season getting some really meaningful wins [against] schools we hadn’t beaten in a long time, I think that got people’s attention,” Whalen said. “So when I brought it up, people were like, ‘I’m interested in this. I really like the direction the program’s going and I’d be interested in investing.’” 

Support for the project was garnered from a number of sources, including lead donors Jeff Hicks ’67 and Peter Hicks ’72 for whom the field is named. The brothers, who played on the baseball and football teams respectively, have been active supporters of Wesleyan athletics for years. 

Coach Whalen informed the team of the groundbreaking plans last fall when he attended one of their practices as they were getting ready for the NESCAC playoffs.

Captain Helen Deretchin ’25 described how emotional it was to hear this news.

“I was tearing up,” Deretchin said. “I came to the school thinking that [getting AstroTurf] was never going to happen and it just felt like all of the hard work that we’ve been putting in for the last five, six years, since Kemp has gotten here, has finally paid off.”

Ground was officially broken on Hicks Field on Monday, April 15 and was completed in mid-August, just in time for the Cardinals’ return to campus for preseason.

Kenzie Mauro ’27 spoke on how practicing on the AstroTurf contributed to the team’s early success, especially in their 5–1 road victory against Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which was played on regular turf.

“In the past we would practice on our field turf and then we’d go play on Astro[Turf] and the game would be a lot faster and it would take a little bit to adjust,” Mauro said. “But now we have that surface so we’re completely ready to play at that fast pace and it’s elevating our team and our playing level.”

After starting 3–0, the Cardinals fell 2–1 against no. 24 ranked Hamilton on the road this past Saturday. The Red and Black will look to get back on track on Tuesday facing Roger Williams University before returning home for three straight NESCAC games against top-10-ranked Bates (Saturday, Sept. 21), Middlebury (Sunday, Sept. 22), and Tufts (Saturday, Sept. 28). The Saturday showdown against Bates is where the official field dedication ceremony will occur, where they will be looking to snap an eight-game losing streak to the Bobcats, and they are poised to do so, coming off their best season since 2010 and returning all 11 of their starters from last season.

Deretchin spoke on how the Cardinals are approaching this gauntlet.

“We’re not letting anything get in the way of how we perform come game time,” Deretchin said. “We treat every NESCAC team equally. We say we respect all but fear none.”

Georgia Adams is a Staff Writer for The Argus.

Erin Byerly can be reached at ebyerly@wesleyan.edu.

Sam Weitzman-Kurker can be reached at sweitzmankur@wesleyan.edu.