The Oakville Tigers field hockey team has hit practice hard this summer to ensure a successful 2026 campaign.
“We are really, really big on stick dribbling drills and stick skills because the kids who come in as athletes, they know how to move. They’re in shape … But the stick, obviously, and the rules really mess with them,” head coach Jackie Neeley said. “We start almost every practice with those stick drills. I, personally, in high school had fundamentals all the time in basketball, and I absolutely hated it. I didn’t understand at the time, but now I do. It really pays off.”
The varsity squad is sitting at approximately 16 players this season, with seven seniors and nine juniors on the team. Biggest strengths of the team — comprised mainly of athletes whose main sport is not field hockey — include their athleticism and positive mindsets.
“They’re strong, they’re in shape and their attitude is awesome. They like each other, they like me and they get along. They are very helpful and they’re problem solvers and they want to get better. The number one thing is team spirit. They really have a cohesive bond with each other, and it’s just really, really nice to see. Even on a bad day, they have a good day. They never complain and I just love that about them,” she said. “I think our strength is their unity and their community with each other.”
Neeley shared that while every group of seniors has been special, this group is particularly so as they came into the program together four years ago. Oakville’s seven seniors include Allyson Brown, Delanie Gabel, Tessa Lillard, Mikayla Robben, Olivia Romano, Molly Schwart and Emma Sophie.
“They’re like my second little daughters,” she said. “Because I’ve known them for four years, it’s just been such an awesome little bond. They just have so much respect for me, and I have so much respect for them … they embrace me very well and I them. They’re just really sweet girls.”
Though it’s technically Neeley’s fourth year coaching the Tigers, she is an instrumental part of the team’s existence as she started the program at Oakville back in 2002. When the field hockey program moved from a club team to a school-sponsored team, Neeley stepped back and focused her efforts on refereeing, a passion of hers. In 2023, she returned to coaching for the Tigers.