On Thursday, Sept. 2, all three field hockey teams kicked off the season with their purple and white game. Purple and white games are a Sion tradition honored by almost all of our sports teams in which the varsity team scrimmages against the JV team before their first game of the season.

Varsity, wearing white, performed their customary pre-game chant before starting the game, Their coach, Gwyn Savage, instructed them throughout the game, leading them to a 10-0 victory against JV.

“The freshmen are still learning what the game is and what they have to do, and the goal on varsity was to try to move the ball around better, and create a strong attack that we can use in our games next week,” said Savage. 

The varsity team, captained by seniors Marie Messerli and Maddie Haukap, has their first game on Friday, Sept. 10 at 4 pm against Fort Worth Country Day School, and JV plays the same day at 5 pm. These first matches of the season are a part of the Tulsa Tournament at Holland Hall in Tulsa, Okla. 

“Our goals for the tournament are just to work hard in the first game as a team this year, and to get to know each other and how we play,” said Haukap. 

Tournaments consist of at least two games, and make up the majority of field hockey’s season, as the only other school in Kansas City with a field hockey team is Pembroke Hill, Sion’s rival.

“One of our main goals this season is beating Pembroke,” said Messerli. “We’ve tied them a lot in the past, so I want to make the ties into wins, and overall play strongly together as a team during the season.”

 Varsity is scheduled to play 11 games this season, with five of them being at home. Tuesday, Oct. 12 is Senior Night, during which girls and parents celebrate the seniors on the team. The team will close out their season with an away game against Pembroke on Thursday, Oct. 21. Their main goal, according to the two captains, is to form connections with players from each grade, especially with the freshman.

“Sion field hockey is where I made all of my frien

ds. It was the first thing I did at Sion, and all of my friendships have grown from here, so it’s always been really special to me,” said Messerli. “If we bond as a team, I think this season will go really well.”