Jayden Moon, junior, and one of the captains of Riverbend’s field hockey team has just been accepted to William & Mary.
Moon started playing field hockey early on in her life, beginning in the first grade. She has been with it ever since and loves the sport. She describes, “Being on the field is exhilarating. It feels natural and always has been an outlet for me.” In addition to being on the field she says, “Every time I send a ball into the goal, excitement and a sense of accomplishment fills me.”
Moon says she was “overwhelmed with pride,” when she was accepted by the College of William and Mary. “The idea that someday I will be on the field with other fantastic field hockey players in a division one field hockey game was extremely exciting,” she said. The moment she got into William and Mary, she got on the phone with the coaches from Riverbend. “The coaches on the other end of the phone were all cheering along with me and my family,” she said. “It was definitely one of the best moments in my life. I can not wait to fulfill my role in such an amazing program!”
During the recruitment process, Moon would send them videos of herself playing and her current coaches would talk to the coaches at William and Mary. She would also send the W&M coaches a schedule of all her tournaments and games so they knew when and where she was playing so they could come watch.
Field hockey has not only awarded her great talent in the sport, but has taught her other life skills. She said, “As a captain, field hockey also has taught me many things about leadership that I can use in everyday life. Every team I have been on has been filled with the greatest teammates and coaches that create such a positive environment around me that I love so much.”
Riverbend’s field hockey coach, Ms.Williams, said that seeing her players succeed, “is the ultimate reward.” Even though this is Ms. Williams’ first year being at Riverbend she said, “It didn’t take a long time for me to see or notice that [Jayden] in particular had great skills and attributes. The thing that sticks out about Jayden is how humble she is and how willing she is to share that experience with others.”
“[I am looking forward to] making lifelong friends that will support me in everything I do,” Moon said of the future.