In the fall of 1979, I was the starting right halfback on Old Saybrook High School’s varsity field hockey team. The year before had been a season of high expectations but ultimately low achievement for our team, and in the spring most of the starters graduated, moving on to other places. In response, the ’79 season was dubbed a ‘rebuilding year’ by our small-town newspaper, as nearly the entire varsity team was replaced by our less-experienced junior varsity members. Admittedly, we were a pretty motley crew:€jocks, hippies, preppies, and nerds. No one player really excelled; we were all about equal in skill. Yet, what we lacked in the flashy.
