DANVERS – There are a bevy of changes to monitor across the state as the field hockey regular season starts up in less than a week, but the perks that come with one last tune-up in a longtime preseason staple – the Barb Damon Invitational – is not one of them.
Again played on the last Friday before Labor Day, the multi-decade-old tradition had nine teams across four different divisions come together for premier competition in the five-hour, round robin play-day at Danvers High. A diverse mixture of teams with rich tournament success, and teams looking to reach those heights, each got four 24-minute games to play each other on either the turf or grass field.
Andover (new head coach), Danvers (new division), Bishop Fenwick (postseason ban) and Pentucket (home field switch from grass to turf) are teams with big changes to handle. The joys and benefits of playing in the invitational as the preseason ends remain the same.
“I think it’s invaluable for all teams to be able to compete,” said Danvers coach Kristen McCarthy. “It’s a great day for those younger kids and those new varsity players to really see how they fit and jell. Get the kinks out and see how they compete with high-level players.”
“This is a play-day that I’ve wanted to get into for years, and I was so thrilled when (Rockport head coach Mary Ryan) reached out to me a couple years ago because the competition here is vigorous,” added Pentucket head coach Ruth Beaton. “It also shows the girls what they can reach, what they are capable of, what they should be trying to strive to be. You watch a team like Andover play, you watch their skill set – it’s wonderful.”
Alongside two-time defending Div. 1 state champion Andover and reigning Div. 2 state semifinalist Danvers, Div. 4 state finalist Manchester-Essex rounded off a group of teams coming off deep tournament runs. Bishop Fenwick and Pentucket have both been very competitive in recent years, while Beverly, Wilmington, Quabbin and Rockport filled the other slots as programs on the rise.
Teams like Andover in the Merrimack Valley Conference, and the three teams from the Cape Ann League that participated get a lot out of their league or conference-wide play-days in the preseason. But what this invitational gives is always unique, especially with having to play on turf and grass throughout the day.
“We had our CAL play-day on Saturday just amongst the CAL teams and that’s a great experience … but (there) you don’t want to show too much because you’re playing against people that you’re going to play during the year,” said Rockport’s Ryan. “It’s a good spot to be able to do it against different teams who maybe have different styles of play. It’s just a great learning experience.”
“I love playing teams that aren’t in our division,” added new Andover head coach Bridget Morris. “We get to play high-quality teams without the pressure. Being able to come here and just get different teams that aren’t in our league, different teams that aren’t in our division and just get a lot of that different types of play. … It’s good to get that variety.”
Bishop Fenwick faces a state tournament ban this year.
Disappointment is an understatement for the team with 10 seniors, who also had to miss out on any playoff opportunity their freshman season because of the pandemic. But they are preparing for the regular season like any other, hoping to make a run for the competitive Catholic Conference League title.
“They’re going in with the mindset that they just want to win every game, they want to win a league title and have the best season they possibly can have,” said Fenwick head coach Marybeth Mahoney. “A day like today is awesome for us to get a real good look at everything we have. … They worked hard all summer long, we just have to put all the pieces together.”
