By: Sophie Constantino, Athletic Communications Intern
When Heather Downey Sherman ‘03 came to the State University of New York at New Paltz there was no field hockey team, which was one of the reasons it was not originally on her list of potential colleges to attend.
“I was looking to possibly play field hockey and since New Paltz did not have a team, I kind of crossed it off my list,” Sherman said.
Associate Director of Athletics, Wellness, & Recreation Brian Williams, who was the swim coach here at the time and had gone to high school with Sherman’s brother, convinced Sherman to reconsider New Paltz as an option.
“He [Brian Williams] was trying to help get a field hockey team up and running and thought I might be interested,” said Sherman. “He knew I loved the sport.
“He was the one who ended up giving me the idea to come to New Paltz.”
In her freshman year, the athletic department was working to get the field hockey program off the ground. The team had to travel 30 minutes each day to Kingston for practice because New Paltz did not yet have its own field. However, with students like Sherman and others who loved and wanted to play field hockey, they made it happen.
“I was actually one of the people who kept bothering the Athletic Director after I graduated to get a field on campus,” she said. “And they finally listened.”
Despite Sherman enjoying her time at New Paltz, she found herself struggling to balance her life as a new student-athlete. As a psychology major on a field hockey team that was just getting off the ground, it was hard for her to handle everything.
“College was a lot more demanding than high school was for me, and I felt very overwhelmed with everything I had going on,” she said.
However, at the start of her sophomore year she was able to get her bearings and rejoined the now more organized field hockey team, where she stayed until she graduated.
“I missed it too much,” Sherman said.
During her time with the team Sherman was able to explore different parts of her personality and skill set, which helped her bond with other women who shared some of the same passions she did.
“I was able to fail and succeed with those girls [her teammates], and no one was judged because as a team, we were one unit,” said Sherman. “Being this close with a group of girls really colors my relationships with women today.”
Sherman also held leadership roles in the athletic community and participated in Student Athlete Mentors, which invited two student-athletes from each team to work together to make decisions and be a voice for their other peers.
In her junior year, Sherman was invited to attend the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum where she learned valuable leadership skills and explored the relationship between personal values, core beliefs and behavioral styles.
“All of the opportunities I had as a student-athlete really helped me figure out who I was as a person and what I wanted to do,” said Sherman.
Today, Sherman has a husband who is in the navy and takes care of her three boys at home, from which she runs her own business.
Looking back on her time as a student-athlete, Sherman says that some of her closest friends are the ones she made during her time at New Paltz, which includes her field hockey teammates.
“We were together all the time,” she said, “it was difficult to not be close.”
With a campus that is relatively small and a tight-knit community among the athletes, she says she did not feel anonymous, as she might have been if she attended a bigger school. This, and the fact that as an athlete she could be involved in many things are the main reasons she loved New Paltz.
Although it is hard for her to see her friends from New Paltz due to the fact that she has lived in different places, like California for example, she and her college friends still try to get together as often as possible. Once a year, they all reconnect and meet up in New Paltz for a weekend.
“Although I wish I could come to the alumni game each year, it is hard with young boys and my own business,” she said.
If she were to give advice to students today, it would be to treasure the time you have at college because there is really nothing like it.
“I love my life now but looking back on my experiences at New Paltz, it is very romanticized,” said Sherman. “I truly had some of the best times of my life there.”
