By The Women’s Field Hockey Team

To the Argus,

The Wesleyan Women’s Field Hockey team accomplished an incredible goal this past weekend by winning the ECAC title for the second straight year. After losing six starters, including two All-Americans, the fact that the field hockey team was able to win this prestigious tournament with so little experience is a feat indeed. We expected that the university would demonstrate not only respect, but pride, in the achievements of the most successful team at Wesleyan. For the second consecutive year, the team has yet to receive so much as a "congratulations" from the president of the university. We had hoped, that at the very least, the student population, and specifically the Argus, would be eager to share in our excitement. 

What we found in Tuesday’s issue of the Argus was an enormous disappointment. Headlining the back sports page was a football article, accompanied by a picture, about the team’s
"uninspiring showing" at Williams this past weekend. By contrast, squished in the bottom left-hand corner of the page appeared the miniaturized headline "Field Hockey Wins Second Straight ECAC Crown." Not only was the article brief and relatively unnoticeable, but it also emphasized the fallacy that the ECAC tournament is a "secondary post-season for team’s   that do not make the nationals." The ECAC tournament is a combination of the top eight NESCAC and NEWMAC teams. Only a few teams, often one or two, advance to NCAAs each  year. Although our ultimate goal is always to make nationals, the ECACs are in no way considered a loserís bracket.

The fact that a football and men’s cricket article ran above the field hockey article made it blatantly clear to us that men’s teams take priority over the successes of womenís sports, even  when they lose "uninspiringly." We have no doubt that if a men’s fall sport had won the ECACs, or an equivalent title, the article would have run front-page. Maybe they would have even received a pat on the back.

Does the fact that we already won this title bore you? We’re so tired of having to prove ourselves to everyone, not only other teams, but to our own school. I suppose we incorrectly expected that at such a progressive school, a successful women’s team would be embraced rather than ignored. Are we wrong?

The Women’s Field Hockey team is a varsity athletic organization of Wesleyan University.