SAMMY HAAN
REDWOOD FIELD HOCKEY
The numbers tell a lot about Sammy Haan's impact on the field hockey program at Redwood High, but they don't tell the whole story.
“Sammy raises the bar for what can be achieved individually as a student-athlete,” Redwood co-coach Aline Brown Copp said of the junior standout. “Her stick skills and understanding of the game — where to cut, where to pass, where to shoot — are phenomenal. She has a tenacity, hustle and fight that is beautiful to watch and cannot be taught. She is a leader to her teammates: she challenges them, gives them thoughtful feedback, helps them develop skills and loves being silly and making them laugh. “Haan, chosen as the Giants' MVP, was named the MCAL Player of the Year after leading her team in every field statistic: points (58), goals (20), assists (18) and shots (92). Haan also earned another honor as the IJ's Player of the Year for the 2022field hockey season.
“This is just an incredible effort and the strongest individual performance in our team's history,” Copp said.
With Haan leading the attack, the Giants (19-1-3, 11-0-3 MCAL) won their third consecutive MCAL title this season. “I only had one year of field hockey experience when I entered ninth grade at Redwood, but I had had many years of youth soccer experience, and so my field awareness and understanding of spacing and moving without the ball was pretty good,” Sammy Haan said. “My stick skills needed a lot of work, and they have gotten better over time. I learned a lot last season playing with an amazing group of seniors. This year I really started to feel comfortable possessing the ball and controlling the pace of the game. I enjoy assisting on goals as much as scoring them, and so the more attention I can draw from the defense the more I'm able to set up my teammates with scoring opportunities.”
Despite being relatively new to the sport, she is certainly one of the rising stars. She plans to compete in a national tournament in Orlando, Fla., in January with her travel team.