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Arias plays in National Futures Tournament

Tatiana Arias played in field hockey’s National Futures Tournament which took place June 25-29 at the Spooky Nook Sports Complex in Lancaster, Penn.

“It was a great experience,” Arias said.

Arias’ team finished ninth among the 16 teams in the under-16 division. “The tournament itself isn’t about winning. It’s more of a showcase for the college coaches,” she said.

The players were assigned to random teams, most of which had college coaches. Arias was coached by Caitlin Williams, who is the field hockey coach at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Penn. (about 20 miles from Harrisburg). The random selection of teams allowed Arias to play with teammates from throughout the United States she hadn’t previously met. “This is a really nice experience,” she said.

Arias played forward, midfield, and defender during the tournament. “I really enjoyed it. It made me very versatile on the field,” she said.

During the 2013 CIF field hockey season, Arias played mostly midfield with some time at forward. She had 15 goals and three assists and earned second-team Avocado League honors. Maddie Ashbrook was Fallbrook’s 2013 center-midfielder; Ashbrook will be on the Cal field hockey team this year and Arias is expected to take over the center-midfielder role for the Warriors.

The regional tryouts for the National Futures Tournament took place in May. The California Region tryouts were at Stanford University. Arias was one of 21 field players selected for the national tournament, and three goalies were also selected from the region.

The Spooky Nook Sports Complex is one of only two pressurized dome fields in the world (the other is in Germany). “It was a great opportunity to go out there. I really enjoyed the venue,” Arias said.

The National Futures Tournament was the third for Arias. In 2012, she was one of only six under-14 girls from California to be part of the National Futures Tournament. Arias was one of three Fallbrook players to participate in the 2013 tournament; Camden Vellom was also an under-16 participant while Ashbrook played at the under-19 level.

Arias has also competed at the Disney Showcase, which takes place in Orlando, Fla., in February; she was part of the San Diego Flyers club in 2013 and the Rush club team in 2014. Arias began playing club field hockey in January 2012 with the Sound Hockey program.

“I’ll just have to keep working harder to try to continue to grow as a player,” Arias said.

Arias attended Fallbrook Street School and Live Oak Elementary School. When she was in sixth grade, she asked Kathy Waite, who spent 30 years as the Warriors’ varsity coach and who also founded the Potter Junior High School field hockey program, if she could try out for the Potter club even though Arias was still in elementary school. Waite allowed Arias to play as a sixth-grader as well as during her two Potter Junior High School years.

Arias began her freshman CIF season on Fallbrook’s junior varsity team but ended 2012 on the Warrior varsity. She will be a junior during the upcoming CIF field hockey season. “I’m really excited for this year,” she said. “I’m excited to see what the season will be.”

 

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