INTERNATIONAL DEBUT: Princeton University field hockey player Talia Schenck, center, goes after the ball in a game last season. Rising senior star forward/midfielder Schenck, a former Lawrence High standout, will be competing for the United States U-21 team in the upcoming Junior Pan Am Games which will be hosted in Asuncion, Paraguay, from August 9-19. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
By Justin Feil
Talia Schenck has a huge opportunity ahead of her final season with the Princeton University field hockey team.
Princeton senior forward/midfielder Schenck will be competing for the United States U-21 team in the upcoming Junior Pan Am Games that will be hosted in Asuncion, Paraguay from August 9-19. It’s her first official international competition.
“To finally have things come together and be on this team after all these years, it’s just super fulfilling,” said Schenck. “I’m so excited and I think it’s come at a perfect time because it is my senior year, and I don’t want to be done playing. So, this is kind of a way that I can continue. It’s super exciting and I love the girls on the team and the coaches this year.”
Schenck has been in consideration for United States junior national teams since she was 14. Formerly known as Futures and now called Nexus, the developmental program is supposed to show promising young players how to play the game at the top level. The final select teams have the opportunity to play internationally. Schenck didn’t grasp the magnitude of being considered when she was just getting into the U.S. scene as her scholastic career took off at Lawrence High.
“At that point I didn’t even understand what I was doing,” said Schenck.
But as she continued to attend the tryouts and became more serious about the game, that dangling carrot helped motivate her to want to keep trying out. Now, in her final chance at the U-21 level, she made it.
“It’s like the most fulfilling thing,” said Schenck. “I feel like I had a bit of a rocky journey here. I’ve always been part of this pipeline, doing those Nexus things, and I’ve always made it to like the final round of selections and then I don’t make the team or last year I broke my hand the day before this Virginia Beach tournament. So there’s always just been one little piece where I’m like one step behind.”
The 5’4 Schenck has proven to be a vital part for the Tigers. She has twice been named All-Ivy League in her first three seasons at Princeton. She scored five goals and dished out four assists as a junior when Princeton was unbeaten in Ivy play and went on to reach the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. She’d love to go further in her final season at Princeton.
“It’s really bittersweet,” said Schenck. “I’m a very sentimental sappy person so I’m already having an identity crisis that that’s going to end. It feels like it should never end. But I’m really excited because I think we had an amazing spring together. And last year we came so close, we were in the Elite 8 and we gave up one shot and they scored. So to finally feel like we were that close to a final four, I think we have a really good team coming back so I’m super excited. I think I’m in a good spot with doing this U.S. stuff where I feel like before when that was all up in the air, then that would affect me at Princeton. I was all over the place. So I feel like I’m going to be in a good spot, the team’s going to be in a good spot and I’m just really excited to end it on a good note.”
Schenck had some moments of uncertainty this year through the U.S. tryouts and with the competitive nature of it there was no guarantee. Schenck missed one tryout while recovering, but she was able to play well in her return to the next tryout. Each time the team got together, a few more players were trimmed from consideration. Eventually she was named to the final 16-person roster selected for the Pan Am team.
“They normally tell you a day it’s going to come out and then it doesn’t come out until like the next day,” said Schenck. “So, you’re just sitting there, staring at your phone. It’s really nerve-wracking.”
Making this year’s team meant a bit more after her years of coming close.
“Some people peak at different times and some people just have a better weekend at these tryouts,” said Schenck. “There’s girls that I’ve played with forever growing up and I play against at college and it would be kind of discouraging because I would feel like I’m on their level and I compete with them in these other settings. But then I would go to these tryouts and wouldn’t quite be able to show what I could do. So it was really relieving to finally feel like I earned my place on that team.”
Schenck got her first taste of playing some actual games with her Pan Am teammates when they were put together for the Senior Nexus Championship in Virginia Beach. Their title win completed a 4-0 weekend July 20.
“This is my first time being able to play with the squad that’s going,” said Schenck. “We’ve done a lot of camps, but I haven’t been able to play actual games with them. So, it was good. We won gold.”
Schenck missed another opportunity to play when she was in a walking boot for a stress fracture for four weeks leading into the Senior Nexus Championship. She had taken in their friendly matches against the senior national team and the New Zealand senior national team from the sidelines, but returned to face college-aged players over four games at the Nexus Championships and see how she fit in.
“I got the boot off a week ago, so I didn’t have much time to get back into the swing of things,” said Schenck. “So, I kind of was thrown in there. The coaches were super helpful though. We did slightly limited minutes because we just didn’t want to risk another injury and so it was hard to get my feet under me at first, and then I felt better towards the end of the tournament. I scored in the final game, so that felt good. I feel like I needed that, confidence-wise.”
Schenck had had previous opportunities to practice with the team, but not much game experience with the team going to the Pan Am Games. She liked what she saw of the teamwork over the perfect weekend.
“The girls are super great,” said Schenck. “We play a good team game, no one is really on the ball that much. It’s a passing game. So it wasn’t that hard. All that time I spent sitting in June I was doing like all tactical things, so I understood all the tactics, all the presses and outlets. So it wasn’t too hard, but we have another little two-day camp before we leave for Paraguay. So that’ll be good to get some more touches with the team.”
Schenck will be in a familiar role, sliding between forward and midfield as she does for Princeton. The U.S. will be in Pool B along with Chile, Guyana and Mexico for the Pan Am Games. They open play August 11 against Mexico. Bracket play will begin August 17 with the championship scheduled for August 19.
“I haven’t traveled a ton, so I’m looking forward to just getting there and seeing the country,” said Schenck. “But also I just want to get back on the field and play with the girls because my favorite part of doing this junior team – obviously you want to represent and that’s a fun part – but I’ve just enjoyed playing with different people because I feel like in a college setting you play with the same 20 girls for four years straight, and it gets pretty monotonous. So, I just love getting to be a part of a different group and I love my team at Princeton but it’s fun that I’ve known some of these girls since I was like 12, seeing each other at different tournaments, and now we all get to put on the same jersey and walk out there together.”
Field hockey is one of 28 sports that will be contested at the Pan Am Games. Schenck will try to soak it all in.
“I’m looking forward to just meeting different people from different countries,” said Schenck. “And there’s other sports, too. It’s not just field hockey. So, I think it’s going to be a really cool experience, and I just want to take it all in. I don’t have a ton of expectations. I’m just excited to be there.”
It will be her first international cap. She did, however, have the chance to play on a trial basis with the U.S. senior national team last November. That gave her a look at international competition and how she could contribute.
“We played against the German national team,” said Schenck. “It doesn’t count as an official cap. It was just like a test, like a friendly match. But that was super cool to do, and I think that having that experience has made me a lot more at ease with this because the German national team is one of the best in the world. So, if I could play and keep up in a game against them, it kind of gives me a little bit of confidence I’ll be able to handle this. But I’ve never played an official cap, so I’m super excited and I think it’ll be a lot of fun.”
That sneak peek gave her an experience she can share with her new Pan Am teammates. And it’s a look at what she hopes could be in her future. Schenck has weighed the chances to continue to play after graduation possibly overseas, and she wants to take a shot at the U.S. senior national team. She’ll have her final junior event, the U21 World Cup, in December after the college season ends and then she will age up to seniors.
“I definitely want to try and pursue it,” said Schenck. “And it lines up well with the time that I graduate and the LA Olympics, that’s what they’re preparing for now. So, age wise, it lines up well for me, but it is all very up in the air of when I would be able to trial again and how the process would look.”
She is trying to enjoy each step as it comes. First is the Pan Am Games that will give her the chance to represent the United States in international competition, and then it is on to her final season with Princeton. She will be a senior with lofty expectations for the team and herself, but she will be coming in with experience and confidence from this summer.
“My goal for myself is to not let any external factors impact the enjoyment I get from the season,” said Schenck. “I think sometimes you get stressed about playing time, about your stats, about stuff like that, and then you don’t really live in the moment and enjoy each game, and you let the stress take over. So my goal for myself is to really just be in the moment and enjoy every single game because it’s really only like 20 more games until it’s over. And just be as present as possible with the team and spend as much time with them as I can.”