Bridging The Gap Between Two Fields: Julia Rivera
Hartford, Conn. - While riding in an ambulance with the opponent who just so happened to be the reason she was in there, Julia Rivera had one of those, "I'm not in Kansas anymore" moments. Rivera is a field hockey player and her opponent had hit her hard enough in the knee to open up a significant cut (in fact she still bears a reminder of that hit to this day), but Rivera was not making the short trip from Robin Sheppard Field to Hartford Hospital or from any New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) field for that matter, but to a hospital in Puerto Rico.
Rivera is a sophomore and plays for Trinity College field hockey team, but in the summer she moonlights as a member of the Puerto Rican National Team. The geography of the ambulance ride was certainly unusual for a NESCAC player, but the reason she had company was decidedly un-NESCAC; one of her teammates took out the woman who injured her.
"One of the most noticeable differences in the international game is that the play is much tougher… even dirtier than in the NESCAC," pointed out Rivera, "The players are more experienced because they're not all the same ages."
The differences between the college game and the international game really come down to experience. There is the age difference (Rivera plays on the same team as a 13-year-old as well as a woman who is more than 50 years old), "but there is also the real experience some of the older players have.," According to Rivera, "They might be slower than some of the younger players, but they know how to use that to their advantage."
Adapting to the international sport, and more importantly, a brand new team was tough for Rivera as she plays the integral position of center midfielder, but after a bit of a struggle and some team-bonding moments, Rivera knew she had settled in and found her niche on the Puerto Rican team.
As a starter since her freshmen year at Trinity, the ability to adapt to the international scene despite some setbacks comes as no surprise to Trinity Head Field Hockey Coach Anne Parmenter who said "Julia is the lynch-pin of the whole operation on the team. She is so successful because she is very calm under pressure. She doesn't break down, doesn't get flustered and almost always sticks to the game plan."
As a member of the Trinity's Cities Program, Rivera's game plan is impressive both on and off the field. As an athlete of Puerto Rican heritage attending college in a city with a rich population of Puerto Rican citizens, Rivera knows she has the opportunity to become a bridge in the community.
Trinity's Do-It Day, which takes place the first weekend after the start of classes in the fall, is a tremendous opportunity for Trinity students to get out into the surrounding Hartford communities, and it has become a resounding success in terms of participation and the services provided. However, Rivera hopes she can set an example that venturing into the Puerto Rican community doesn't have to be a once-a-year occurrence.
"Cities are places where segregation and inequalities are fairly obvious," said Rivera, "but I feel I have a unique experience as a half white and half Puerto Rican where hopefully I can be a bridge between the two communities."
The year before she came to Trinity, Rivera played in the 2010 Central American Games for Puerto Rico, which Puerto Rico hosted. Surrounded by friends and family, "it was unlike any other thing I had experienced in my life. It was like the Olympics," Rivera added. "It was surreal, being the hosts, because we were the last group to come out and the cheers we heard were unbelievable."
Not many Trinity athletes get the chance to play in such an environment and the novelty of the experience is not lost on Rivera or her teammates, "Coach Parmenter told me we have seniors and recently graduated players who are calling in and saying how much they would love to just pick up a stick and be able to play," recalls Rivera. "So I know how lucky I am that after I graduate I still have somewhere to go play."
Rivera has two field hockey families. We get to see her playing on Robin Sheppard field and on the fields of New England, but her second family plays in front of an ever-growing population of Puerto Rican field hockey enthusiasts on fields in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and other countries.
The Puerto Rican Women's Field Hockey team is just starting to get some momentum in the international scene and Rivera's ability to adapt is a crucial reason. She is a great ambassador not only for Puerto Rican athletics, but also for Trinity. "We'd be better off if we had more people like Julia," commented Coach Parmenter. "Not just for athletics, but as a community." Rivera now knows that on whatever field she plays, someone has her back.
written by Jacob Donnelly'09
