Positivity keeps Middleboro High School field hockey team motivated despite losses

MIDDLEBORO — Win or lose, the Middleboro High School field hockey team plays for the love of the game. 

As their season winds down with only one win out of 10 matches, players and Coach Kelly Celata agreed that enjoying the sport, maintaining friendships and growing together count for more than what’s reflected on the team’s record. 

That’s not to say they don’t have a competitive mindset. Celata said along with providing a place to learn team work, build friendships and stay in shape, she wants to see her team win.

“I am a competitive person at heart, so that will always be my end goal,” Celata said "All of those things are very important, but when you play sports you should play to win.”

She began her coaching position in fall 2024, and has spent the last two seasons building the school’s field hockey program. In that time, she said she’s seen the sport go from a second or third priority for some athletes to their main focus. 

Some players even plan to join club and collegiate teams. 

She said she has seen growth across the team on an individual level as well, with players growing their skills and confidence on and off the field. 

One player, she said, would constantly apologize for everything she did during the past season. The coach encouraged her to grow in her confidence and break this habit, and said she hasn’t needlessly apologized once this season. 

“That’s not even field hockey related, it’s just a good thing for a woman to not feel like she has to apologize for her own existence,” Celata said. 

As she works to improve the team’s gameday performance, Celata said maintaining a positive atmosphere is vital to building a program players want to join and remain in. 

When she played on her college’s field hockey team, she said they often lost and there was a negative attitude amongst her teammates. She often wondered why people stuck around without the motivation of fun or winning. 

Now that she’s in charge of a team of her own, she said she wants her players to have fun and be supportive in the face of disheartening games. While positivity won’t guarantee wins, she said she always tells the team negativity will only make things worse. 

“In order to become a winning team, we have to build the program, build the love of the game and make it a sport people want to play,” Celata said.

Senior player Jordan Ingram said she’s seen this play out during her time on the team. The team captain joined as a freshman and has recruited several friends to the team since then.

She said even though they don’t win often, they “have so much fun” and enjoy the friendships that have developed among the group. 

“I know people picture winning all the time but that doesn’t matter to me, it doesn’t matter to any of us,” Ingram said. “Having a good season where everyone gets along and everyone has fun — that’s more important.”

She said part of this feeling comes from Celata’s leadership, while some is due to the temperament of the girls on the team, who she described as “all very genuine.”

Hadja Diallo, a fellow senior captain, first joined the team at the encouragement of a friend and said seeing how the players interacted, and how much fun they had together, made her want to stay. 

She said everyone is friendly and practices are fun, and her teammates keep showing up in the face of losses. 

“Obviously we’re not a team that wins a lot, but I feel like how we come out here every day and try our best shows a lot,” Diallo said.