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# Goffstown's Gifford found success in field hockey while following own path
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/goffstowns-gifford-found-success-in-field-hockey-while-following-own-path/
- Published: 2019-08-27T12:00:35.000Z
- Updated: 2019-08-27T12:00:35.000Z
- Description: Shannon Gifford was not the first in her family to participate in multiple sports at Goffstown High School. With two older sisters who dazzled on the athletic fields for the Grizzlies, specifically on the field hockey pitch, the younger Gifford wanted to carve out her own way to success. So while bo
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, field hockey, Goffstown, Grizzlies, NH High School Sports Insider, Shannon Gifford, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

Shannon Gifford was not the first in her family to participate in multiple sports at Goffstown High School.

With two older sisters who dazzled on the athletic fields for the Grizzlies, specifically on the field hockey pitch, the younger Gifford wanted to carve out her own way to success.

So while both Lauren and Hannah were three-sport athletes for Goffstown, they both opted to continue playing field hockey once they moved on to college. For Shannon, it was softball that grabbed hold of her.

"I started a lot younger playing softball and it kind of just clicked right from the beginning and I fell in love with it," Shannon Gifford said. "My dad (George) was my coach for so long. That was kind of our thing. My sisters, they started field hockey younger than I did. I started in sixth grade. They fell in love with that sport."

While she plans to play softball in college, having a different No. 1 sport hasn't stopped Gifford from playing field hockey at the same level as her sisters when the fall season comes around.

"Shannon is an incredibly natural athlete," said Goffstown coach Jess Brown, who coached all three sisters. "She just has a sense of how to see the field and react. As she has developed, it’s become invaluable on the field. She just has a way of sparking play, creating something on the field that gets the momentum moving forward.

"We’re really excited for her to be one of her seniors. As a leader, she’s more lead-by-example. She hustles, she runs hard, she pushes herself. If you ask her, she just wants to play, she just wants to be on the field."

Gifford has been on the field, a lot, since she first arrived at Goffstown her freshman year. A varsity player in both softball and field hockey from her first day, the senior was also on varsity for the girls basketball team last season in their first year in Division I.

"It was nerve-wracking," Gifford said of being a freshman on varsity. "It was difficult, but that group of girls helped me and pushed me, and that’s what I want to do for the girls coming in. I was nervous when I first started, but I’m glad I was on varsity. It helped me a lot and pushed me to be better. If I hadn’t had that experience, I probably wouldn’t be where I am now."

Brown is sure that having two older sisters who played the sport a lot helped prepare Gifford for that first year of high school field hockey.

"I think she was always surrounded by the game," Brown said. "I think, in addition to being a physically strong athlete, she also understood the game. To be able to understand the game at that level, as a ninth-grader, makes you start to get excited about what that will look like as she heads into senior year."

As a junior, Gifford was named first-team all-state in Division II, and brought a level of toughness that was on display in Goffstown's regular-season finale against Pelham last year. In the second half, an arrant stick whacked her in the leg and opened up a gash that eventually needed stitches.

While she had to come out of the game to get the cut covered, she eventually came back to finish playing.

"She’s tough, she’s strong, both physically and mentally," the coach said. "There’s a resolve that she has, where her mission is to be as influential as possible on that field. Her teammates respond to her positively because she’s also encouraging, she’s a good teammate in general."

Gifford brings that mentality regardless of whether it's in field hockey, basketball or softball she's playing.

"If I’m here, I’m going to try my hardest and I’m going to push until I have nothing left," Gifford said. "I love sports and I love being competitive. I grew up in a family like that, so it kind of just clicked for me. If I’m playing this sport, I have to be dedicated to it. I want to be good. My family pushed me to be competitive always, in school and in general."

Both coach and player have big expectations, not just for Gifford but for the Grizzlies as a whole. Goffstown advanced to the quarterfinals a year ago, and despite graduation seven seniors, returns a strong core.

"I expect us to be dominant," Gifford said. "I think the more we push ourselves, the better we’re going to get. It’s important to put a hundred percent effort into what we do."

If Gifford is able to reach that level, Brown believes she'll leave Goffstown having made quite the name for herself in two sports.

"I think she is capable of having an incredibly strong, breakout season," Brown said. "I don’t think she’s ever not been on people’s radar, but there are some big names around the state. I think she is an athlete and loves being an athlete, but I think she sees herself as a softball player. I think she loves field hockey but I’d like to have her just realize how dominant she is as an athlete in her second sport."