Saratoga senior Riley Jameson commits to St. John Fisher
SARATOGASPRINGS, NY » Over the summer leading into the 20202021 school year, nobody knew if fall sports would actually happen. Saratoga field hockey senior Riley Jameson was set on finding a college that not only had her major, but field hockey as well.
Not only did the senior find the right college fit, she got to play with the Blue Streaks this fall.
“We are very excited for Riley to join the Fisher community and to become a Cardinal on our women’s field hockey team,” said Saint John Fisher head coach Tori Bothner. “Her drive to want to learn and get better; coupled with her current athletic ability, made her a very appealing prospective student athlete.”
Jameson committed to attend Saint John Fisher College next fall just a few weeks ago, after her
college search was slowed down due to the coronavirus.
“I started looking at colleges around Thanksgiving time of my junior year. I went to a tournament in Virginia around then and that gave me a lot of college exposure,” Jameson said. “I started to reach out to more coaches and began to pick out some colleges that had field hockey and my major, which is biology.”
After the coronavirus struck, Jameson partook in a Zoom call with coaches from multiple schools and that’s where St. John Fisher first officially became an option.
“That’s when I became super-interested in the college,” she said. “I ended up touring about two or three months ago and I really liked the campus. Right when I saw it, I said that this is the place I want to be and that I want to go there.”
St. John Fisher, located in Rochester, NY, will allow Jameson to remain close with friends and family. Current teammate Erin Fleming will attend the University of Rochester next fall and Jameson’s sister goes to graduate school at the University of Buffalo.
“Being part of a team right away definitely helps because you already have a set group of people that you can always go to and that’s one thing that’s really exciting about playing field hockey in college,” the Cardinal commit said. “You have the group of girls right away and you’re kind of forced to make friends in the beginning.”
One part of the SJFC campus that stood out the Jameson is the fact that students can remain indoors while going to all of their classes.
“I really hate the cold and now I’m going even further north. I heard that the food was amazing though, so I’m pretty excited for that.”
When Jameson began the college process, the two most important factors were the field hockey program and her major. That major is going to be biology.
“I started wanting to be a doctor about two years ago. I really love helping people. My parents really wanted me to be an engineer, because they both are. I knew that I liked math and science, but I’m super-interested in the human body. I looked at being a nurse, a doctor, a surgeon, and a registered nurse. I looked at all those I decided that being a physician is what I wanted to do the most,” she explained.
Currently, Jameson is taking part in the CEIP program through Saratoga Springs High School, which allows her to intern at the Saratoga Hospital.
“Right now with COVID, they don’t really let us go into the hospital though, we all have to stay in one room, so that’s pushed me back a bit, but at least I have something to help me get ready.”
Asked how the coronavirus may have impacted her decision to major in biology and enter the medical field, Jameson wasn’t deterred.
“COVID didn’t turn me down from it at all. If I was a doctor now, I’d love to be in the mix of all the patients and the chaos. It actually made me more interested in being a doctor because you have things like this come along and you never know which way it’s going to turn, the curiosity of not knowing what’s next.”
While the senior hopes to go to medical school in Florida, or at least somewhere down south, she will be dealing with the upstate and western New York weather for the next four years. The midfielder will soon find her self in the grind of a college field hockey season. Jameson spoke about what she is going to take with her from the Saratoga field hockey program.
“Coach Hostig really pushes us to be the best and when she sees potential in us, she really pushes us to use it to the fullest extent. I really think that she helped me realize the moments where I could do better and I really liked that about her. She believed in me a lot and that gave me a lot of confidence on and off the field.”
It was Saratoga’s first game against Guilderland where it actually set in for Jameson that it was her senior year.
“The moment that stands out to me is the Guilderland game, when Aubrey Ide scored late. I looked up at her and hugged and realized that this was the beginning of my senior season, my last season in Saratoga and that I’m really going to miss this,” Jameson said. “I’m really looking forward to getting a prom and graduation. I’m praying that those things will actually happen. It’ll be really nice to end my senior year more traditionally instead of still dealing with COVID.”
Whether those moments actually happen or look different than they usually do is still to be determined, but for now, Jameson knows that the future is in Rochester.
“Riley will bring a strong work ethic both on and off the field,” Bothner added. “We believe Riley is a great match for Fisher and we are thrilled to have her.”