GRACE NOCKOLDS

Playing Field Hockey at Johns Hopkins University Fall of 2021
​Kinkaid - (K - 5th Grade)
St. John's - (6th Grade - 8th Grade)
St. John's (2017 - 2021) Captain, Varsity Junior + Senior Year

Profile Link
From Grace: 
1.Favorite Field Hockey Memory? Why?
  • My favorite field hockey memory was during the regional indoor tournament in Houston my junior year. I was on the B team, and we had to play a really good Windy City team in our pool before crossovers. We needed to get first place in our pool to finish in one of the top four spots at the tournament, which would place us in a higher pool at nationals. We definitely were not the favorite for the Windy City game, but it was super close and ended up being really back and forth the whole time. By the second half, everyone in the building was gathered around our court, and it felt so intense. Every play mattered. I ended up tying the game with a goal on the back post, and we went on to win our pool with goal differential. It was a great tournament for our team, and it showed us that we were capable of much more than we had realized.

2.What was your most exciting recruiting experience?
  • My most exciting recruiting experience was my visit to Hopkins. I got to stay overnight with a really nice girl on the team who was a mechanical engineering major (like me). I enjoyed going around campus and attending her physics and math classes. The team culture was amazing, and I knew that it was the place for me once I got to spend time there. We even watched The Bachelor all together, and it was a super fun trip. Plus, I was very lucky to get my visit in because the night that I left, the whole campus shut down due to COVID.      

3.Why are you playing field hockey in college?
  • I simply just can’t imagine life without playing sports. My whole life, I’ve always been very active and played many sports. When I was younger, I loved soccer, basketball, volleyball, softball, gymnastics, and more. I eventually ended up giving up all of those to focus on field hockey, but I love competition way too much to not continue with sports. I also love challenging myself and staying busy, and I think that playing a sport in college is a perfect way to do that.      

4.What have you done this summer to prepare?
  • This summer, I have been doing my workout packet from Hopkins. We have lifts and runs to be completed each day. It’s actually really exciting because I’ve never consistently lifted until this summer, and it turns out that it can be really fun. I’ve also planned the classes that I will take my first year and looked into some things that I could potentially minor in.

5.If you could give one piece of advice to younger girls who want to play field hockey in college, what would it be?
  •      Make sure you’re always having fun. You don’t want to continue with field hockey if it’s not something that you love. So make sure that at the end of the day, you love the sport. In addition to that, just show up at practice ready to push yourself and your teammates because that is the best way to improve.

6.Who was the most influential person in high school?
  •      I can’t choose just one. Tina and Adam, of course, have always been very influential as far as being extremely supportive coaches who dedicate their time to our success as players. Tina always pushes me to be my best, and Adam has really taught me how to be a forward these past few years. The other players at pride have also been extremely influential. The older girls served as people that I could look up to or always go to for advice. And the younger girls this past year who aged up have kept practices so competitive. Really, the whole Pride community has been influential.

7.Favorite post practice/ game snack?
  • Hands down, Scooby Doo fruit snacks. However, Mott’s and Goldfish are good alternatives.      

8.What pre game rituals do you use to hype yourself up before a game?
  • Honestly, I don’t really have any. If we’re at a tournament, I like to watch the other games going on right before ours. If it’s a school game, I like to listen to some good music. But I’m not very superstitious, so I don’t have any rituals that I feel the need to do before every game.    

9.What made you want to be a college field hockey player?
  •      Like I said previously, I couldn’t imagine not playing a sport throughout college. I wanted to continue to compete at a high level. Of course, seeing the older girls who went off to play in college inspired me as well. I loved hearing about all their fun times with their teams. I knew that I would love to be a part of a team like that throughout college as well.

10.What was one of the toughest experiences?
  •    I’ve had two experiences that stand out as pretty tough. One of my toughest experiences was my recruiting journey through junior year. None of the schools that I was really interested in were hosting fall clinics, so I planned on going to a lot in the spring. Then, COVID hit and all the clinics and visits that I had planned on going to got cancelled. That was rough, but it ended up all working out.
  • The other tough experience for me was school field hockey at St. John’s. I just never really had a great experience in high school field hockey. I wasn’t really able to enjoy my time there the way that I wish I could have. I didn’t get to experience varsity level play until my junior year, which was very tough for me. And although I got to be a captain senior year, it was hard leading a team through COVID because we weren’t really able to have a full season.

11.Year you began playing field hockey? How?
  • I started playing field hockey in 6th grade at St. John’s. I planned on playing volleyball, but a few of my friends convinced me to try field hockey instead.​​
From Tina:
Favorite Grace Moment (old) / why?:
  • ​Grace was always part of the 'forgotten middle child' group.  And she always reminded me about it :)
  • Grace's diet.  Grace has a very unique diet and is the only one who can go outside of the bacon rules for breakfast. She would eat a plate of bacon for breakfast, a bacon sandwich for lunch and probably the same for dinner. Her diet is very unique...

Favorite Grace moment (new)/ why?
  • Grace was finally a superstar this spring :)
  • One of my favorite newer moments for Grace is when she was a sophomore on the U19 White Indoor team. This was a very competitive winter of indoor tournaments. Grace figured out how to score and tip very effectively. She did this to the dismay of the Red team. Particularly one girl on that team. This girl was nasty to Grace the whole season. And Grace loved beating her. So did all of us because Grace was doing such a good job of it.  It was a great moment for Grace and a great season of growth for her.  This solidified Grace as a forward. 

Story we will forever tell about Grace:
  • We will always talk about Grace's high school field hockey experience.  She made the best of it regardless of the team she was on.  Playing on JV until her Junior year was really tough for her when all of her friends were moved up to varsity for various reasons.  It was a very trying experience for her, and I was so proud of her ability to keep going when everything in her didn't want to.  

Favorite Grace recruiting moment/ why?
  • My favorite recruiting moment of Grace is when she told me she committed to Hopkins. It was a summer league night during the summer of 2020.  She asked to talk to me after practice. Recruiting hadn't been necessarily going super well for Grace as she details in her answers.  I was really worried about what she wanted to talk about because I thought she was going to tell me she was going to quit. Recruiting during covid was extremely challenging. So she comes up to me a little quiet and I'm expecting the worst. Instead, she told me that the night before, she talked to Jane and they offered.  And Grace accepted. I was SO happy!  I think I almost started crying. I was so happy Grace had finally accomplished all that she wanted. 

First memory of Grace / why?
  •  During our first U14 trips, Grace was always the most practical one who would keep everyone in line. At some point, my dad started calling Grace, Grumpy Grace. Just because all of the other girls would be messing around and Grace would keep everyone in line. She's not grumpy anymore :). 
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