Garden City middle schooler Olivia Goncalves fell in love with field hockey as a third grader, and it didn’t take the young girl long to realize she was pretty darn good at it.
“I really wanted to play at an elite level,” the 13-year-old who’s now in eighth grade told The Post.
However, it came as a shock to the Goncalves family that suburban Long Island, which fosters big-name talent in sports like soccer and lacrosse, wasn’t doing the same for field hockey player development.
“When I started playing, there weren’t many club options around here,” she said.
It took going out of state to find a team that really tested the midfielder’s limits, as she joined the ultra-competitive AGH club in Greenwich, Conn., a few years ago, while simultaneously playing locally.
Shooting high
Goncalves now moonlights for AGH while also being a member of the Garden City middle school team, and commutes to the Constitution State multiple nights a week — sometimes practicing with both squads in the same school day.
She doesn’t mind when the schedule gets tight, though, and says the extra reps only strengthen her game.
“At the start, I wasn’t used to long-distance car rides… the first two weeks were rough,” Goncalves said, adding that the AGH program’s intensity was also initially daunting.
“I got used to it, and everyone was pushing me to get better. I like it a lot now. I’ve gotten a lot better,” she added.
Now the girl who dreams of taking her talents to the collegiate level someday, perhaps at an ACC program like Duke or Wake Forest, has impressively found a way to do both while keeping her grades up.
“I would always be doing my homework in the car or finding little opportunities,” the honor student said of the near-daily 60-mile round-trip journey.
One goal in mind
While Goncalves’s parents can’t muster the strength to peek at the E-ZPass bill from their extensive, yearslong labor of love, that commitment is not lost on their daughter.
She has made a devout commitment to grow the game locally for the next generation.
“I want to help girls be able to start the game here at a younger age now,” said Goncalves.
Last May, she dedicated her Girl Scout Silver Star project as an initiative to increase the island’s field hockey presence.
Goncalves had the opportunity to showcase her own skills to elementary school girls through a series of clinics that introduced them to the sport.
Excited to see the push, teammates of Goncalves were quick to join in her efforts and also volunteered to coach at the camps to support their friend and boost the soon-to-be up-and-comers.
“I also made a training video for a local elementary school, and I’ve been donating sticks in town,” said Goncalves.
“That way, they can be building their skills for when they get older.”
She added that, based on personal experience, it can be challenging to find resources for the game on LI.
That is why the young talent also developed a website that lists clubs on the island, along with colleges that offer youth camps.
And, although it’s in-season crunch time, Goncalves is already starting to line up a spring clinic for her Gold Star award in the scouts.
“I want to try and get more girls. Not just that, but I would love to see the ones who came to my first clinic,” she said.
“It would make me so happy to hear that they bought a stick or have been working to get better or have been starting to play seriously.”
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