Recent Chesapeake High School graduate Eve Vickery plays field hockey non-stop. After Vickery’s high school season ended, she competed for the Odenton-based Freedom Hockey Club team in the winter and participated in the USA Field Hockey Futures championship tournaments at the same time.
During her first three years at Chesapeake, she played club hockey in the spring and attended camps in the summer. Practice with friends on the turf was incessant and consistent. “It’s a never-ending job,” Vickery says. “I am really dedicated and passionate about it. I have been able to travel to different states and talk to players about their experiences. It’s helped shape my life.”
Former Chesapeake Field Hockey Coach Joan Johnson says Vickery’s dedication makes her “better than a lot of college goalies.”
“She is 24-7 with field hockey,” Johnson says. “Year-round. If she is not playing, she is working out at the gym. That’s her.”
The 5-foot-5-inch Vickery will play at the University of Delaware in the fall on a field hockey scholarship. She’ll major in medical diagnostics with an eye on becoming a doctor. “I love the coaching staff,” says Vickery, who carried a weighted 4.66 grade-point average. “They do a really good job of incorporating the goalie into drills. They make you feel like part of the team. It’s a really big deal for me because I have been to camps and they just want you off to the side.”
Delaware Field Hockey Coach Kerry Kiddoo says Vickery is close to the perfect student athlete.
That’s what attracted the school’s coaching staff. “She is very smart and academically is off the charts,” Kiddoo explains. “She has definitely been on our radar for a long time. We got to know her through a lot of events at Delaware and we love her potential. We are very fortunate to have someone of her caliber. Her agility, quickness, and strength are really great.”
Vickery’s accomplishments playing club and for the USA Field Hockey Futures program jump off the page. Four times she played for the National Indoor Championship. Three times her team advanced to the National Futures Championship and her team came away with a silver medal last year.
One of her biggest achievements in an eight-year career was making the USA Field Hockey Junior Olympics U-16 team in 2017 in Michigan. “It helped me get recruited, and get my name out there,” Vickery says of playing in the National tournaments. “It’s helped my skill-level improve, make connections, and getting to know people, which is really important.”
Vickery capped her Chesapeake career with an eye-catching award. In December, The Maryland State Field Hockey Coaches Association named her in December its Defensive Player of the Year after she recorded the highest save percentage of her career (88 percent) and the lowest goal-against average (0.73).
“I didn’t expect that at all,” Vickery admits. “There are so many amazing players in the state. It helped me realize how much hard work and effort I have put in over the years.”
She started her career with a flourish as a sophomore, beating out a senior goalie and leading the Cougars to a Class 3A state championship by posting nine shutouts and a 1.00 goals-against average. Vickery also broke two school records; a 36-year-old mark for career saves (386) and a 37-year-old record for saves in a game (33), held by her coach, Johnson.
“She is so fast,” Johnson says. “She can go side to side better than most goalies. She can go down, make a slide-tackle save, and be back up with her hands in the air right way if they try to shoot high. She’s the boss directing traffic and seeing other things coming down the field that others didn’t.”
The 18-year-old Vickery also competed in track. She ran indoors for three years and outdoors for one season. That made her a better field hockey player. “It’s about perseverance,” Vickery says. “Sometimes, you might not want to run, but I knew I had to do it if I wanted to be the best field hockey player I can be. As a goalie, you need to be quick and we did a lot of short sprints that helped me.”
Johnson says Vickery has worked as hard as any player she has coached in seven years, but she recalls when the goalie wanted to stop playing the position. “She came to me after her freshman season and said, ‘I don’t want to play goalie anymore,’” Johnson says with a laugh. “I am not sure why, but I convinced her to stick with it.”
