After 11 years of perfecting the sport she calls home, senior Nicole Subiela wraps up her final season, dominating on the field while prepping for her future with the sport. Her place on the school’s field hockey team will be remembered for years to come as she demonstrates resilience and strength to inspire and support her teammates.
After disliking sports like gymnastics, ballet and soccer, Subiela’s parents decided to enroll her in field hockey at age six. Field hockey is the most popular sport in Argentina, where her parents are from. Subiela has had inspiration from a retired Argentine professional player, Luciana Aymar. “She is the only player to have won the International Hockey Federation player of the year award eight times and is considered the best female field hockey player of all time,” Subiela said.
With the support and motivation from family and friends to continue playing, she began to enjoy the sport. “I started by doing recreation, and a couple of years later, I joined an under-12 development team. It wasn’t until I was in seventh grade that I started playing on a competitive travel team,” Subiela said.
What makes Subiela such a dominant player is her confidence with her ball distribution and presence on the field, playing as a center back. It is important to her to be able to spread the ball across the field, whether a short or long pass up to the forwards.
As she continues to improve, her busy schedule doesn’t hold her back from lifting, conditioning and practicing, all of which are built into her routine. Additionally, she plays five times a week with the varsity team and attends club practices on Sundays.
With her confidence comes motivation and goals to help her continue to boost her gameplay. Improving her top speed and endurance are her top goals moving into college field hockey at Georgetown University. She is extremely competitive and uses that to challenge and push herself to thrive. According to Subiela, watching talented players helps motivate her to become better, especially after facing an injury.
Subiela tore her ACL the summer before her junior year, and it became her biggest challenge because it caused her to sit for 10 months and miss peak college recruitment. However, this injury did not break her; it just made her stronger. She used this injury as a chance to enhance her skills and make her a more powerful player.
With the injury being one of her biggest challenges, Subiela also faces comparisons. “As an athlete, it is easy to compare yourself to others and get self-conscious over mistakes, but I’ve learned to remind myself of my strength and what makes me a valuable player,” Subiela said.
Losses and setbacks don’t hold Subiela back because of her positive mindset and not giving up on herself, as is seen with her injury. She knew she could get through it and return to being a better player, which is exactly what she did. Consistency with her physical therapy exercises and not rushing to return to the game backed up her recovery. “I knew that rushing the recovery process would only cause more damage in the long run, so I listened to my physical therapist and didn’t start playing again until I was able to do so,” Subiela said.
Subiela couldn’t be a well-rounded player without being a great leader. She said her self-confidence, self-awareness and accountability are what truly make her a leader. To her, it is important to earn her teammates’ respect and guide them when needed.
It should not come as a surprise that other players want to improve and learn from her, as she makes it known that she is always open to sharing her knowledge with those who want it. “She inspires me as a player because she is a positive leader on the field and a good influence for all the underclassmen, including myself,” freshman Maddy McCormack said.
