Gilroy
– Field hockey has come a long way in Gilroy since GHS varsity
co-coaches Adam and Erin Gemar made it their mission several years
ago to rebuild the sport from the ground up in the area.
Gilroy – Field hockey has come a long way in Gilroy since GHS varsity co-coaches Adam and Erin Gemar made it their mission several years ago to rebuild the sport from the ground up in the area.
On Saturday, all that hard work paid off as the city’s Infinity Field Hockey Club under-16 team emerged as pool champions at the third annual Pacific 7v7 Field Hockey Tournament at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.
It marked the first time a Gilroy club team had earned this distinction.
The Infinity 2 team went 4-0-1 at the tournament, beating the San Jose Fly on penalties in its last game to take the pool title outright. Forward Kelly Perkins scored in the first penalty exchange. The Gilroy squad sealed the victory when keeper Stephanie Glenn saved the first Fly penalty.
Perkins, who fired home 10 goals for Infinity 2 at the tourney, was joined on the score sheet by the team’s youngest player, 7th-grader Elise Ogle, who chipped in with a goal of her own.
With its roster filled out by some younger players in the tough U-19, the Infinity 1 team went 0-3-2 Saturday.
Gilroy was a field hockey powerhouse in the 1970’s and 80’s under legendary coach Nina Edwards, who led her teams to the Central Coast Section playoffs nearly every year of her long tenure. But by the late 80’s, Edwards was gone and the program went into decline as coaching continuity became a thing of the past.
Enter the Gemars, who took over GHS field hockey as coaches in 1997. Inheriting a team that went 0-14 the previous season, the husband and wife team has steadily improved the program in recent years, taking it to the CCS playoffs each of the past two years.
“We’ve been trying to build the program, little by little, winning a few games more each year,” said Adam Gemar.
One way the pair has accomplished this is by launching club field hockey in Gilroy to keep pace with the thriving club scene in San Jose. They founded the Infinity Field Hockey Club 2001, which was originally called “60 Minutes,” but switched to “Infinity” two years ago.
Participants on the two club teams range in age from 12 to 18. They include Salida Banuelos, Andrea Chichester, Stephanie Glenn, Maia Guerrero, Emily Haygood, Marissa McBride, Marissa Mercado, Elise Ogle, Kelly Perkins, Meg Perkins, Elena Ramirez, Jaimie Silva, Brittany Simpson, Kathryn Sinon and Lindsey Valadez.
Gilroy Infinity hosts its third annual Spring Fling 7v7 Field Hockey Tournament on Saturday, May 14 at Gilroy High School from 1 to 5pm, with an alumni showcase game at 10am. All profits from concessions and entry fees will go to the alumni scholarship fund to assist Gilroy hockey players with their collegiate athletic goals. Attendees are invited to eat dinner after the tournament at Happy Dog Pizza, 55 5th Street, which will donate 15 percent of each dinner or drink bill that evening to the fund.
For more information about the tournament, visit the club’s Web site at www.gilroyhockey.com or contact co-coaches Adam and Erin Gemar at 842-6509.
