Student Athlete Spotlight: BHS Field Hockey's Kelly Laske

Name: Kelly Laske
Sport: Field Hockey
School:
Nominated by: Her coaches
Reason for nomination: As a student athlete, Kelly is a leader both on and off the field. An aspiring journalist, she is also a president of BHS Model Congress. She is a senior on the field hockey team.

Want to nominate someone to be featured? E-mail the above information to Bing Miller at millerbhs@gmail.com.

Branford High School senior Kelly Laske is a senior of the field hockey team which had a 10-3-2 record this season, earning the squad its 33rd consecutive berth in the state playoffs. In the opening round, Branford defeated Daniel Hand High School 1-0. The team plays a quarterfinal game Monday against Farmington at Trinity College at 4 p.m.

Get to Know Kelly

Branford Patch: How long have you been playing and how did you get involved with the sport?
Kelly Laske: I started playing field hockey in 6th grade. The program at the middle school was relatively new and I joined it purely because my sister played. I really liked the sport because it was not like anything I had ever done before. After playing all throughout middle school, I decided to play for the McGuirks at the high school level and it was honestly one of the best decisions I ever made. It is one of the scariest sports I have ever played but I just love it because you can never really predict the outcome of the game. The McGuirks have been great and I couldn’t have asked for better coaches.

Branford Patch: How has the field hockey team performed this year?
Kelly Laske: At first, we were nervous about entering this season because we graduated some very skillful players and didn’t really know who was going to play each position. We started the season off with two great wins against Cheshire and Guilford that really got us excited for the rest of the season. We practice six days a week and try to improve our skills as much as we can. We are also very fortunate to have such amazing athletes that play for the team like our goalie, Jenna Limone, who has been starting since her sophomore year. It has been incredible watching her grow into such a strong and aggressive goalie. She is truly amazing, and without her, the team would not be the same. The season has been full of sweet victories and a few tough losses. We just won our first game against Hand. Hand is a very skillful team and this win got us pumped up for the rest of the tournament. We have our minds set on a state championship. For us seniors it is our last shot and we really want it. It isn’t going to be easy, but this journey has been so exciting and I think we deserve the title more than any other team in our class.

Branford Patch: What have you taken away from your experience playing field hockey?
Kelly Laske: The main thing I am going to take from it is the memories I have made with the other girls on this team. I have made friends that I know I will be friends with 10 years from now. We start the season in August and end in November, and each and every day we get even closer. We are all in it together and respect each other no matter what. I can’t tell you how many times I have fallen over laughing because of these girls. I also learned so many life lessons, mostly from Mr. McGuirk. He is very honest and in his own way prepares us for life’s obstacles. He puts things into perspective and has given me new ways to look at and approach life, and I thank him for that. Mrs. McGuirk adds humor here and there to our practices and has been so good to us all. The McGuirks are field hockey legends, and to be able to say that I was coached by them is an honor.

Branford Patch: What are your plans for the future?
Kelly Laske: I have already applied to colleges and hope to study journalism or communications. It has been a lifelong dream for me to be in the media field and I hope to someday be a writer for a big-name magazine or television program. I love when a breaking news story pops up on the TV and I love feature articles in magazines. I don’t know exactly what I am going to be but I want to be successful. I absolutely love the Today Show and Nightly News with Brian Williams. My dream is to write for one of those amazing shows.

Branford Patch: What are you involved in besides field hockey and what have you got out of the experience?
Kelly Laske: My favorite club at BHS is Model Congress and I am one of the presidents for this year. I joined freshman year thinking it would be fun to be involved in something. Little did I know, I would consider it one of my favorite things at Branford High School. The Model Congress program consists of many students who learn how to write and debate legislation. We then get to go to conferences on all different Ivy League campuses such as Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Penn, and Columbia. We meet students from all over the country and we try to get our pieces of legislation passed. Model Congress has taught me to how to speak comfortably in front of a crowd and gives me the opportunity to voice my opinion.