Farkas and Smith Recap Young Women's National Championship Experience

LANCASTER, Pa. – Columbia head field hockey's Kelsey Farkas and Allison Smith wrapped up play at the 2019 Young Women's National Championship, which was overseen by USA Field Hockey. Farkas' play at the tournament earned her a spot at the Women's Development Team Selection Camp in December. Smith's team, Freedom, finished third out of eight squads at the event.

This marked the second straight appearance at the YWNC for Farkas, who said the experience helped her feel more confident going into the tournament.

"I felt I was able to make good progress throughout the tournament," the rising junior said. "The YWNC is an incredible opportunity to play against so many top-level collegiate and post-collegiate players. My biggest goal for the tournament was to get better as each game went on and implement the concepts we worked on at Columbia this spring into my game play."

For Smith, her team won all three games of pool play, but fell in the semifinals before bouncing back with a 3-1 victory in the bronze medal match.

"My team focused on many of the same principles that we focus on at Columbia," said Smith. "One of those was 'finding a way to win.' This idea resonated with me the most as my teammates and I looked to 'find a way to win' each moment, each play, and each game – individually and collectively. It's not new to us, but I know it's something we will carrying with us into the 2019 season."

Both players were able to learn from some of the best coaches at YWNC and will bring some extra knowledge into the 2019 season.

"I definitely learned a lot over the course of the tournament," Smith stated. "When you put together a team of people that have never played together and you only have a brief practice before game play, there has to be a lot of in-game learning. As the tournament progressed from game to game, I think I was able to settle into my team's dynamic and do my best to be a contributing teammate."

"I got a chance to work on different receptions in the midfield pocket," continued Farkas. "My team played in a structure that was new to me, so it gave me the chance to work on different skills in a new formation, which I hope to bring back to Columbia in the fall."

Lastly, the duo turns its focus on preseason training and neither can hid their excitement for the upcoming year.

"Watching Allison play 'Columbia field hockey' within such a competitive setting made me extremely excited for the 2019 season," Farkas said. "Knowing we had such a positive spring team experience with all our returning players working so hard to improve components of their own games bodes well for the fall. With extremely talented incoming first years joining us in the fall, it all makes me so excited for the season to get started."

"Since our season ended in November, I feel like I've been getting more and more excited and playing over the last week has made me extra excited for this season. I think we have a great group of returners and incomings and cannot wait to see where we can go as a team."

For more information on the Young Women's National Championship and USA Field Hockey, click here.

Schedule

Farkas and Smith Recap Young Women's National Championship Experience

Players Mentioned

Kelsey Farkas

Allison Smith

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