Williamson heading to Richmond University
Oley Valley High School senior Thalia Williamson accomplished a lot during her high school field hockey career. Over the past three seasons saw her team compile a record of 67-11-3. Now, she’ll be graduating in June and looking to start a new chapter in her field hockey life – playing at the college level. On April 22, Williamson signed her national letter of intent to play field hockey at Richmond University.
Thalia felt that the whole process of trying to find the right school was a tough one, with a lot of ups and downs. Along with her parents, Thalia visited 36 schools before deciding on Richmond University. She’ll be the first to admit that there were a few schools that she didn’t get out of the car to even look at.
“It was definitely a difficult process deciding where I felt the most wanted and where I could major in the major I wanted to,’ said Williamson. “I went where I felt that I fit in the best.’
Williamson will tell you that the process of trying to find the right school isn’t as easy as one would think. She thought it was going to be a fun process but ended up being very stressful for her.
“It’s one of the more stressful things that I’ve ever done,’ said Williamson. “I think that it can be very disappointing at times, but when you find that place, it’s definitely a relief. You feel really good about your situation.
On her first visit to Richmond, Williamson didn’t like the college. However that changed when she received an email on Sept. 1 from the assistant coach. She told her that they really wanted her on the field hockey team there. One of the things that swayed her towards Richmond in the end was that the head coach made it very clear to her that she was coming to Richmond for academics first, field hockey was secondary.
“She was up front and let me know that,’ said Williamson. “The team was very welcoming too.’
Then Thalia met the team for the first time, she stayed with a foreign exchange student from Ireland. Williamson remembered that she explained the philosophies that the coach had at Richmond. Williamson came away with a positive feeling about the school.
“I think I’ve always wanted to be a D-1 athlete because my family was all D-1 athletes,’ said Williamson. “My father went to Bucknell for baseball; my uncle went to Villanova and West Virginia for baseball. I had an uncle that went to Duke for soccer. My aunt Kelly Williamson Cawley played field hockey at Delaware University. It’s a family tradition to go to a D-1 school. It’s something that I’ve always considered the possibility and I really wanted to do it for myself.’
While some coaches may not give freshman playing time, that’s something that Williamson talked to her future coach about. Thalia he didn’t want to red shirt her freshman year. Her coach told her that if she worked hard and she would see playing time. “She said if it works out, it works out,’ said Williamson.
Thalia isn’t nervous about the jump from high school field hockey to playing at the division one level. Because of playing field hockey at Oley Thalia and her teammates are use to playing at a very high level. They’ve all strived to be competitive and they’ve had that intensity at practice in Oley so she feels that it won’t be that much different.
