For the Love of the Game

Callie Rogers, a Collegiate junior, field hockey team captain, and midfielder par excellence, checks all those boxes, so it’s no wonder, then, that she’s emerged as one of the top prospects in the nation among players from the Class of 2024.

 

“They [recruiters] look for someone who can make an impact their freshman year,” said Cougars’ coach Kelsey Smither, a highly recruited hockey standout at Lakeland High School (Suffolk) and Old Dominion University and an assistant at both Ball State and Georgetown before coming to Collegiate in 2021.

        

“Obviously, you have to have the basic fundamentals locked down. You have to be able to play with others but also have the confidence and ability to take on 1-on-1 situations in a game. Callie has an incredible passion for field hockey. She wants to play at a high level, and she’s in somewhat of a unique situation where I think she can go wherever she wants to go.”

 

Callie is circumspect about her future beyond Collegiate other than to say she’s doing her due diligence to narrow her choices and wants to continue with the sport she loves as long as she can.

 

“It’s been a fun process,” she said of the under-the-microscope scrutiny she’s received both on the club circuit and at Collegiate. “It’s a dream to keep playing until I really can’t anymore.”

 

Callie was introduced to hockey when her sister Cameron, who’s eight years older, began playing in middle school. She also gravitated to swimming, the sport in which her sister Avery, four years older, had become involved.

 

Cameron went on to play for Trinity Episcopal (Class of 2016) and Georgetown. Avery swam for Collegiate (Class of 2020) and now competes for Campbell University.

 

When Callie was about seven, she joined the Panthers United Field Hockey Club and has remained with the organization ever since. She eventually stepped back from swimming and directed her athletic focus to hockey with an inner drive, even at a young age, to become the best practitioner of the sport she could be.

 

Over the years, she’s competed in more elite camps and national tournaments than she can count, amassed a slew of honors, and earned a spot on the U16 U.S. Women’s National Team. A four-year varsity starter at Collegiate, she received All-League of Independent Schools, All-VISAA, and All-Metro citations in 2019 and 2021.

 

Last fall when the Cougars’ returned to full-schedule interscholastic play following the COVID layoff, Callie accounted for 48 points (22 goals, four assists) in 21 games. Through seven games (including six straight victories) this season, she’s already amassed 34 points (15 goals, four assists).

 

So how has Callie become one of the most accomplished players in Collegiate history? Athletic ability, of course, but the intangibles as well: effort, dedication to excellence, a never-quit attitude, and the all-for-one, one-for-all desire to be part of a meaningful, bigger-than-self endeavor.

 

Those who have seen her play describe her as a smart, instinctive player who can go 1-on-1 with an opponent, deliver deftly-placed passes at just the right instant, and, in so doing, make her teammates better. She practices and plays at full throttle. She never backs down from a challenge.

 

“Callie does the things you can’t necessarily coach,” Smither said. “You can teach fundamentals, but you can’t teach the work rate she brings.”

 

There’s more, though. As gifted as she is and successful as she has become, Callie conveys a refreshing air of humility and wonderment that belies her fierce competitive spirit. Indeed, talking to her, you get the sense that she’s quite content to let her actions rather than her words speak for her.

 

“I love being part of a team,” she said. “It’s fun to be with a group of girls who all share a love for the game. I’ve always had a great time playing field hockey because there’re so many things you can do. It’s hard work to score a goal. Goals are worth more because it is hard to score them. I really like to focus on the attack mentality when I play, using your teammates in the midfield and then just generating goals from that. That’s probably my favorite part of the game.”

 

Callie is a student of the sport who doesn’t have an off-season. She often trains on her own when few are around to see, studies film of Collegiate games, and views college games either in person, on television, or online.

 

“Whenever you watch a college game,” she said, “it’s basically watching a whole field of role models who are older than you and more skilled than you. They play at really high levels, and watching them can show you a side of the game you maybe haven’t reached and can give you a goal to strive for.”

 

What it boils down to is that all aspects of field hockey speak loudly to Callie. She finds joy in what some might call “the grind.” She enjoys the camaraderie. She’s driven to improve and never rests on laurels, though she has received many. Mainly, she just has fun.

 

“Field hockey is an awesome sport,” she said. “I love it.”

~Weldon Bradshaw