Over the last year field hockey has become a way for Kalianna Charleston-Lopez to escape from the world and all of its problems, but it hasn’t always been that way. The now junior at Douglas High School was first introduced to the sport of field hockey in seventh grade at St. Peter’s in Worcester when she was peer pressured into joining the team. The Worcester school didn’t have enough players to field a team in the beginning so the girls that were on the team went out and recruited players.

The next year Charleston-Lopez continued playing field hockey for Notre Dame Academy, also in Worcester where she would play left defensive back for the squad.

“In the beginning I was not sure about the positions and really didn’t know anything about the sport so I went wherever they put me,” she said. “I have grown into liking the position as I am there to help take the pressure off the goalie.”

The next year, while still at Notre Dame Academy, her interest in field hockey waned as the freshman found herself dealing with other things in her life, so she took a few years off from the sport.

In her junior year, Kalianna’s  family moved from Worcester to Webster, where she opted to attend Douglas High School for its academic opportunities through the School Choice program. Once she got acclimated to Douglas High School, she wanted to become active.

“I didn’t even know that the school had field hockey until one day I was looking at some options the school had and noticed a field hockey co-op with Oxford (High School) and decided to give it another try,” Charleston-Lopez said. 

Not having gone though a tryout process her first time around, the junior found herself really nervous as it had been a while since she last played the sport and not really knowing anyone from Oxford she found it really intimidating.

Luckily, she made the team and soon found herself playing right back defense for the Pirates, but things were not as she remembered them when she was in eighth grade.

“The high school team was so much more skilled and despite my lack of skills, the team made it really easy on me and took me in,” Charleston-Lopez said. “It was totally different, but my skills started to improve because of the level of the game that I was playing. I honestly felt a connection to the team and although it was a different school, they didn’t see me as an outsider.”

While Charleston-Lopez may have found the transition rough, her new coach thought she fit right in. 

“She came to us taking some time off and was apprehensive at first, but how well she blended in, her willingness to learn and be coached was phenomenal,” Oxford head coach Dana Peloso said. “She’s always looking to improve her skills and asking questions while being receptive to the answers.”

Peloso went on to say that Charleston-Lopez was communicating with him early on and possessed a college mentality asking what type of work she could do prior to the season beginning.

Not only was Charleston-Lopez an outsider to the Oxford team, but she was also the only athlete from Douglas to play on the squad and that at times made it rough getting from school to practice.

“I’d get picked up by the bus at Douglas and brought to Webster where I’d have to get a ride to Oxford, while I changed in the car on the drive,” she said. “It was a challenge and I felt guilty because they had pushed back the practice time because of me. It was always stressful the ride over there, but once I got onto the field everything went away.”

Prior to beginning the current season, the junior defender was just hoping that she could improve her game throughout the year to help her team. She firmly believes that this Pirates team has a lot of potential and would like to be able to help them.

“Currently it has been the best start in six or seven years according to the coach,” she said. “I feel that we can win our division and I want to not only focus on getting better while playing my best to help this team be successful.”

Although she still has almost an entire season to play as a junior, Charleston-Lopez is planning on joining a winter team and doing some conditioning during the offseason. 

“I’ve really become passionate about the sport and this team is amazing; field hockey has become my escape and while I am on the field nothing else matters except field hockey,” she said. “I’ve realized how much I have improved in such a short time with these girls.”

Following high school she would like to continue her field hockey playing on the collegiate level but is unsure if that will be possible with her current skill set. Charleston-Lopez has already seen her skills rise while playing with the Oxford team in a few short weeks; with another two years to go she should have no problem of taking her game to another level and playing college field hockey.