It all began at a Dunkin’ Donuts in 2015.
Dennis Pelletier and his now-assistant coach, Gretchen Guevin, scribbled down notes to answer a fundamental question: “How can we get a field hockey program started?”
Pelletier’s oldest daughter, Bella, had played field hockey in a recreation program in Bow, and she wanted to know why they didn’t have something similar in Weare.
“We don’t have anyone to start it,” he told Bella.
“Well, you’re good at that stuff, Dad,” she replied.
Pelletier and Guevin got to work and launched a youth program. The following year Pelletier became the high school coach.
Now seven years later, John Stark field hockey is reaping the benefits of that meeting over coffee, sitting at the top of Division II as one of only two unbeaten teams. The team is 9-0-0 after Tuesday’s 7-0 victory over Sanborn.
In 2021, Bella helped the Generals set a program record with 12 wins. In 2022, even after her graduation, they’re a team on a mission.
“I honestly do feel that we could play anyone, anytime, anywhere, and we would have an excellent chance,” Pelletier said. “But we also know that this program years ago would go seasons without winning a game, so we’re going to be humble about it. We can’t get too full of ourselves, and I think they’re doing a great job of that.”
After a record-setting 2021 regular season, John Stark lost, 2-1 in overtime, to Lebanon in the Division II quarterfinals. It was the furthest the Generals had ever advanced in the playoffs. But they had had two goals waived off the board in the game and thought they were a championship-caliber team.
“We knew the thing that stuck in our older girls’ heads is that we’re gonna come back, and we want it now,” Pelletier, now in his seventh season coaching the Generals, said of the team’s outlook entering the 2022 season.
John Stark returned seven starters and added depth, notably a freshman class that led Weare Middle School to its fourth straight Tri-County League field hockey championship. From the start of the season, they’ve proven why they’re one of the top teams in D-II.
Through nine games, the Generals have outscored their opponents 35-3, they’ve pitched shutouts in six of those nine games and they’ve yet to allow more than one goal in any game. And it all starts with Pelletier’s top focus: defense.
“When I say defense, I don’t just mean the people that are labeled defenders,” he said. “The midfielders have played great defensively, and our forwards have put a lot of pressure on defensively, so it’s a total team effort.”
For the players, they’ve understood why the focus on defense is so important and, as a result, why being a versatile player opens up what the team can do.
“It’s super helpful to have players on the field that can play every position,” senior Reagan Fischer said. “It helps with the rotation on the field. You can trust the people who are switching to your position, and it allows other players to come up and switch with you to go up to the net.”
Added Reagan’s twin sister, Aubrey: “No one player can do it all, so we all need to work together.”
And they’ve been working together for quite a while, some of them since fifth grade.
“We’ve been together on and off the field for so much that it’s almost like you can predict where they’re gonna be,” junior Hailey Brisson said. “There’s a deeper connection than just on the field.”
Brisson grew up around the sport. Her mom coached at New England College.
The Fischers were thrown right in.
“We had literally no knowledge going in,” Aubrey said, recalling the start of her field hockey career in fifth grade. “Mom’s like, ‘Here guys, we’re going to field hockey. Here’s a stick.’ ”
Not only are the current Generals’ upperclassmen positioned for immediate success, Pelletier and Guevin have helped create a strong developmental system for field hockey in Weare.
“I think that’s what’s making us one of the better programs in the state right now, Pelletier said. “We can go up and down from elementary school to high school and be pretty solid.”
Take the varsity roster for instance. In a given game, Pelletier will start at least two seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen, able to give a variety of players playing time while not sacrificing skill level.
John Stark’s biggest challenges still lie ahead. The Generals face fellow unbeaten Souhegan next Tuesday on the road, as they look to continue their championship quest. But while the focus is justifiably on winning each game, Brisson said they’ve also stopped to take in all the small memories along the way.
“Every day, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said. “I think looking back, we’re going to realize how much of an experience it was. We’re going to just wish we could go back to our senior year and play the season all over again because of how much it means to us and how much fun we had.”