KATE AINBINDER

Playing Field Hockey at University of Pennsylvania Fall of 2020
​St. John's School (2016 - 2020) Captain, Varsity Sophomore, Junior & Senior year

Profile Link
From Kate: 
Favorite Field Hockey Memory? Why?
  • My favorite field hockey memory was at RCCs when our game was cut off in the first half because of rain and we were down by one goal and got super excited and motivated while waiting in the van to get back out there and make a comeback. We did score but the game didn’t end exactly how we wanted it to. I will always remember though how determined and excited we all were to get back out on the field and finish what we started!
 
What was your most exciting recruiting experience?
  • My most exciting recruiting experience was Festival my junior year because I had been working super hard leading up to it and I got the rewards I had been working towards the whole year!     

Why are you playing field hockey in college?
  • Because I just love playing! I also love the team aspect of the sport but it’s just really fun to play and I will get to compete against some high school friends.

What have you been doing to prepare?
  • I have been working out every other day to get in good game shape as well as beginning some strength workouts to prepare for lifting in college which isn’t as common in high school. I also have been working a lot on my finishing skills, faster sweeps, and quicker hands.

If you could give one piece of advice to younger girls who want to play field hockey in college, what would it be?
  • I would say that the best thing for you always ends up working out in the end. It can be a very frustrating process, but if you actually bring yourself to put in the work and stay positive then it will all work out for you!

Who was the most influential person in high school?
  • I thought all of the older girls were extremely influential because they success motivated me to be like them!

​Favorite post practice/ game snack?
  • Frozen grapes but at tournaments mini wheats!!

What pre game rituals do you use to hype yourself up before a game?
  • Listening to the same 3 songs on the van rides to games with the team and singing every word definitely hyped everybody up and we knew it was game time.

What made you want to be a college field hockey player?
  • I always loved sports and wanted to play as many as I could for as long as I could and pretty early on I realized field hockey was my favorite so I knew for sure that I wanted to play in college.

What was one of the toughest experiences?
  • One of the toughest experiences was my last year as a u16 for indoor qualifiers when we lost to a team by 1 goal after being up 3-0 and that team went on to win the whole qualifier.

Year you began playing field hockey? How?
  • I started playing field hockey in 2015 because of middle school PE credits but I started Pride that same year because it was so fun. ​
​From Tina:
Favorite Kate Moment (old) / why?:
  • The famous JPOL tournament...Our newly formed U16 team was really struggling.  We could not get the ball out of the backfield, so I put Kate as center back. When I told her to play center back, she was fairly confused. But...she did great!  I'm pretty sure Kate has played almost every position on the field for us at some point.  Truly...left forward, center mid, center back.. a lot of positions, and she was good at all of them.

Favorite Kate moment (new)/ why?
  • Kate had this unbelievable breakout tournament at Festival the fall of her Junior year.  She stood out on the field so much.  She played unbelievably well for her team, and it made me so proud of her.  She worked extremely hard that fall and it was evident her hard work paid off. ​

Story we will forever tell about Kate:
  • Kate had a really tough recruiting path. In the fall of her Junior year, we sat down and set up a plan for her to not only go to a lot of clinics, but become the best player she could be. It was not an easy plan and required a lot of extra effort and time on her own. The incredible thing was that she did it - all of it!  She's our best example of when you really set your mind to something, great things can happen.
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Favorite Kate recruiting moment/ why?
  • Definitely letting Kate know that she was invited to this clinic at UPenn with a lot of interest. UPenn had not shown a lot of interest in Kate prior to that, but went and saw her play at Festival anyway.  She played unbelievably well at Festival, and they were shocked at how much she had developed since the summer.  Then a week later, she was committed. It was an incredible turn of events that shows anything can happen.  

First memory of Kate / why?
  • I remember our first Windy City Tournament.  It was cold and our teams were not good at all - all of them were beginners.  We were preparing for Festival, but it was a rough tournament. I don't remember much from the tournament other than it was miserable and I couldn't believe we were putting these girls through their first travel tournament like this.  I'm always shocked with a first experience like that when so many kids keep playing and become great players. 
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