By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

Payten Tripp has pretty much been a three-sports athlete her entire life. In the early years, she began playing ice hockey, lacrosse, and soccer, and would say whatever sport she was playing at the time was her favorite.

By the time she got into Ashland Middle School, she was introduced to field hockey by a friend who was on the team. It came at the right time because she felt that soccer was not what it used to be, and she did not like it all that much, so she decided to give field hockey a try.

“Ashland didn’t have a field hockey youth program when I was growing up, so the first time I was introduced to the sport was in the eighth grade,” she said. “Having played hockey, I figured that field hockey would be an easy transition, especially since I already have the stick skills.”

Things seemed to come easily for Tripp when she was learning certain aspects of the sport. As an eighth grader, she was assigned to play the midfield, a position that she would come to love as it was a big part of both the offense and the defense. Nowadays, as a high school varsity player, she has been lining up as the Clockers High center midfielder, where she is counted on to play offense while also moving the ball up the field.

Upon entering the high school field hockey tryouts, she had no idea what to expect. Growing up, she had always taken part in the same sports that her older sister played, but that was not the case with field hockey.

“My sister didn’t play field hockey; she played soccer in the fall, so I had absolutely no reference as to what to expect when I got to the tryouts,” Tripp said. “I did become friends with a couple of the older girls who helped me through it all.”

Knowing that the team had not had too much success in the past, Tripp was hopeful that she could earn a spot on the team. Playing for the varsity would also be a big asset in her learning the sport at a higher level. The incoming freshman did earn a spot on the varsity team, and as a first-year high school player, she found that she was able to learn a lot from the girls on the team. She was not as confident in her ability that year, but after getting acclimated to the sport, things were totally different for her in her second varsity campaign.

“My sophomore season was a totally different story,” she said. “My confidence grew, and my dribbling ability was getting much better. I felt that I was learning a game that I was only playing for my third year ever.”

Clocker Coach, Molly Foley, agrees with Tripp’s assessment of her improving her game.

“Payten is one of the best I have ever coached. Her confidence has grown considerably, and she is still a skilled player, the Ashland Coach said. “During her first year, she was a tiny little freshman who was scared to take risks; now she is willing to try new things, making those around her look good. She is also smart enough to know that she can't do it all by herself; she knows she needs her teammates.”

During her sophomore season, Tripp found that she had twice as many assists as goals despite her coach seeing her as a goal scorer.

“That all goes back to my position; my job is to get the ball up the field to the forwards,” Tripp said. “In all the sports I’ve played, I am quicker to pass than shoot. As long as the ball goes in the net, I don’t care who put it there.”

As she entered her junior season with Ashland, Tripp definitely wanted to improve her goal scoring and put some more points on the board for her team while taking a bigger role on the field. Tripp feels that the team needs to put more shots on the net, and things will happen. Thus far, she has tallied five goals this year, the most she has ever had.

In addition to her individual goals, Tripp would love to see the team get back into the playoffs and advance past the first round. In 2021, the Clockers made it to the tournament for the first time since 2013. That year, as well as the next, Ashland was able to secure a win and advance to the second round. However, Tripp and her teammates have not been able to advance past the first round of the Division 3 state Tournament the last two seasons.

“The team seems to always lose in the first round, and I wasn’t going to get past that this year,” she said. “It would be a big win for the program, and I believe that we have the potential to do it this year.”

Although she has only played field hockey for three years, Tripp’s ultimate goal is to play on the collegiate level. She has already started the recruitment process and has reached out to several coaches, hoping to eventually play for a college in New England.

“She can definitely play on the next level,” Foley said. “She is looking to play for a Division 3 school where she can make an impact instead of saying that she plays for a Division 1 school.”

Tripp herself doesn’t want to play for a Division 1 school; she wants to be able to be engaged in her studies as well.

“If I could play Division 1 field hockey, I’m not really sure that I would want to – it takes up too much of your life,” she said. “I can’t imagine my life without sports in it, and although Division 3 would still be a commitment, it would not be as big as playing Division 1.”

Tripp still has the remainder of this season and her senior campaign with the Clockers before she has to make that decision, but for right now, she is committed to helping her team qualify for the State Tournament and win that first-round encounter.