Shay ready to do whatever it takes to get Londonderry field hockey to the top

Courtney Shay believes she has a clear role this season for the Londonderry High School field hockey team.

Whatever the Lancers need the senior to do, she's ready to do it.

More of an offensive player as a freshman and sophomore, Shay spent time at midfield for Londonderry as a junior, getting back more on defense than she ever had before. But that didn't limit her role on the attacking end, as she often jumped into scoring chances for the Lancers.

"I was more of a center forward and had to get all the way back," Shay said. "So technically, I was a midfielder, but I was far up on offense. I love scoring goals and getting assists. It’s a hundred-yard sprint all game. It was tiring at first, but once you play more games, you get used to it."

This year, with the Lancers trying to replace a dozen seniors from last year, most of whom played on the defensive end, Londonderry coach Nichole Treadway thinks she might need Shay to focus more on that end of the field.

No matter where Shay ends up, Treadway, who enters her third year coaching the Lancers, thinks having a player with that kind of versatility will be a positive no matter where she is on the field.

"I think it sets us a part a little bit," Treadway said. "Last year, our game against Windham, I had her marking the entire game. To be able to grab someone and say ‘I need you to do this, this is your job,’ and she understands that and she does it well. She’s not the type of kid that is going to be ‘but I’m a forward, or I don’t know what to do.’

"She just goes out there and plays. Whatever the job is, and her role this year is going to be a little different again. I think it’s nice to know that I have someone, if I need her to go somewhere, I know she can and she will."

It's something Shay is used to in her high school career, not just in field hockey, but also on the basketball court for the Lancers. A varsity player for both teams since she was a freshman, Shay has been more of a post player for Londonderry the last two years because she's one of the taller players on the basketball team.

"For AAU, I’m usually a (guard), but for high school, I’m the tallest one on the team, so I’m in any position (girls basketball coach Nick Theos) needs me to play," Shay said. "It’s exciting because every (field hockey) game is different and you don’t know where I could be. One game, I could be on the left forward or I could be at midfield. Every game is different."

Growing up, Shay had a sport for all seasons, with basketball her main focus while also playing soccer in the fall and softball in the spring. But in sixth grade, she grew tired of soccer, and with her older sister, Valerie, already playing field hockey, the younger Shay decided to give it a try.

"I hit lefty in softball, so it was so different for me," she said. "I would say I picked it up pretty easily."

By eighth grade, Shay had dropped softball and focused on the other two sports, and as a freshman, she made the varsity field hockey roster, playing alongside Valerie for a season.

But a new coach heading into her sophomore year, that varsity spot wasn't guaranteed.

"Just because a player played as a freshman on varsity for one coach doesn’t mean that as a sophomore that they’re going to be a shining star," Treadway said. "I had expectations, but at the same time, for all of the girls, I tried to look at them as ‘I know nothing about you.’ I gave them all numbered pinnies, and as terrible as that sounds, they were numbers the first couple of days because I wanted to be as unbiased as possible."

Shay ended up on varsity again and helped Londonderry reach the Division I final for the first time since 2008, where the Lancers came up short against Timberlane. A year ago, Shay felt the Lancers could get back to the final, but they were knocked out by Merrimack in the quarterfinals.

This year, she feels good about her team's chances at getting back to the final.

"We have five seniors and we all want to go back," Shay said. "It’s our last year, so we might as well go out with a bang. We’ve been working all summer. Last year, we didn’t do much over the summer. This year, we’ve been doing skills every week. We’ve been playing together so I think we’ll be strong at the start of the season."