WOODBURY — “Anna, what were you thinking out there?”

“Mom, shut up!”

It’s just another day at field hockey for me and my coach — I mean, my mom.

To many kids, a coach is someone whom they see a few times a week at the field, not every day at home. For me, that’s not the case; from the day I could walk, my mom had a field hockey stick in my hand.  

For several years, she was just my mom coaching from the sidelines and in our backyard — until my eighth-grade year, when she was offered the Woodbury Middle School field hockey coaching position. 

Now, having her as a coach at Nonnewaug is a blessing and a curse. Most days I love having her as a coach, but other days I hate it. 

“It is a challenge to coach your own kid, especially at the high school level,” my mom, Janet Crocker, said. “I am always worried about people going to see it as playing a favorite.” 

During practice and games, my mom’s voice is always the loudest when she talks to me. She’s normally the hardest on me. 

“I think I’m probably harder on you than other players because I have to compensate,” says my mom, “so that I’m not accused of favoring you. I don’t think I put that pressure on you; that’s just your personality.”

While I agree that she’s harder on me, it’s never a negative thing; I like it. The pressure from having her as my coach helps my confidence knowing that she expects a lot from me on the field.

It’s also nice having her to ask questions about the team and how I can be a better teammate. I also can provide insight to the team that she normally would not know because she lives with a player, which helps her plan practice and other things for the team.

But having me as a player also challenges her in many ways, especially when it comes to challenging the team during practice.

“I have to be careful of how much I press the team because I don’t want it to negatively affect you,” says my mom. “If I go hard on them, I’m afraid they’re going to take it out on you.”

It doesn’t bother me when my teammates talk to me about my mom. It helps me get a feel for the team. I can also tell my mom to make improvements, and she’s been doing a great job — we’re off to a 2-1-2 start.

“I want to give this team a positive experience this season,” she says. “That involves hard work, accountability, [and] lots of change, but the players who want to get better will. This is high school varsity, after all; positions are earned, not given.”

This is the opinion of Anna Crocker, a junior editor for the NHS Chief Advocate.