Field Hockey

 Back in the day, when I was in High School, there were no girls’ sports.  It was before Title 9.  But we had Physical Education every day and we rotated through different sports.  My favorite was Field Hockey.  I loved the free running back and forth, the marking of the sticks, the hitting of the ball.  I didn’t like sports much but this was the exception I remember.

Now Elsa has joined the Field Hockey team at Palo Alto High School where she is a sophomore.  Yesterday I went down to Palo Alto to watch her play in a game against La Loma at 5:15.  It was an adventure for me as I took public transportation.  I didn’t want to drive home in the dark on the crowded freeway and I wondered how this other way might work.  I took BART south to Millbrae, the end of the line and there I transferred to the CalTrain which runs from San Francisco to San Jose, down through the Peninsula.  Arne helped me find the times and the trains to take.  It all worked out beautifully and I got to Palo Alto just at 5 pm.  Arne was to pick me up there and take me with him to her game.  The only problem was finding him on the platform.  I did eventually and we got to the field just before her JV game started.

It was so fun watching Elsa in her green jersey number 1, run all over the field.  She is on the right back and played the whole game.  She looked so happy and strong running here and there and making blocks and hitting the ball to other players.  Her posture is straight backed and beautiful.  Her team had it together and won the game 7-0.  As the light grew more angled, everything glowed and we even spotted a rainbow up in the cloudy sky.  After the game was over, the team had to put away all the equipment.  The girls knew just what to do.  Karna told me where to stand so I’d be able to see Elsa.  She came running over, to put away her stick in the locker and saw me and smiled and waved and said “Hi Gramma.”  That was it.  She knew I came and seemed happy for it.  I got in Arne’s car and he dropped me off at the CalTrain station and I took the train to Millbrae and BART back to Berkeley.  It was 5 hours in transit, coming and going, but for me it was worth it to see my granddaughter strong and happy playing at a sport she has come to love.