Fiona Lockhart is known primarily for her lacrosse skills, but she has helped fuel a young field hockey program’s early success by being a team leader.
The Our Lady of Mercy Academy senior first picked up a lacrosse stick in kindergarten and has been mastering her craft over the last dozen or so years. She started playing field hockey in eighth grade just for fun – and it’s been all smiles since then.
In the last three years, Lockhart has become a key founding piece of the Villagers’ field hockey program, which began playing varsity games during Lockhart’s sophomore year in 2019.
There were supposed to be growing pains, especially with a large percentage of its athletes having never played the sport before arriving at the Newfield high school. But the Villagers have experienced success in the early years of the program, mainly because they keep it lighthearted.
“Most of our girls at school start playing sports freshman year,” Lockhart said. “So it’s kind of hard to gain that fast skill when other girls on other teams have been playing since kindergarten and club in the offseason. We don’t have a lot of that. We like to compete, but we like to have fun, too. And winning is fun, so we try our hardest.”
Lockhart’s infectious smile and positive attitude are counted on most during the times when the team suffers a tough defeat.
“You need that to uplift the other girls,” OLMA coach Georgina Morrell said after the Villagers lost to Triton last week.
Morrell started OLMA’s field hockey program in 2017 when the team only played scrimmages. The next year, the Villagers began playing junior varsity games, and in 2019, the program played its first varsity game. Now in its third season, and second in the Cape Atlantic League, the Villagers face some tough competition throughout their schedule. Through Sept. 26, OLMA’s program had a combined 20-15-2 record. Lockhart has been there for all of it and helped the team achieve its quick success.
“She brings leadership and skill and dedication,” Morrell said. “She has always shown up and done what she needed to do. She sets an example both on the field and off the field in the classroom.”
Lockhart plans to play lacrosse at Rowan University in Glassboro next year, as the Washington Township resident wanted to remain close to home. She comes from a family of lacrosse players, which includes her older brother, Gianluca, who plays college lacrosse, and her younger sister, Mina, a sophomore, who is Fiona’s teammate in both field hockey and lacrosse.
“I’m a homebody,” Lockhart said with a laugh. “I love my family. I love eating dinner with my family every night.”
Family dinners extend a bit further. Lockhart’s grandparents own the place she calls the “best pizza in the world” at Primavera on the Ocean City Boardwalk, where she works as a hostess.
When she’s not playing sports or working for the family business, Lockhart can be found participating in her school’s Interact Club, which is for students who want to connect with others in their community or school.
Interact activities include beach cleanups, nursing home visits or making “smile boxes,” which are loaded with fun or needed items and given to children and senior citizens.
“We go once a week to do service,” Lockhart said. “We’ll make cards for nursing homes or hospitals and little things like that. It feels great to take a break and do something nice for someone else and brighten up their day.”
She has a habit of doing the same thing in field hockey. Lockhart has scored 11 career goals, including three this season, which was tied for the team lead in late September. It’s nothing compared to the 45 goals she scored last lacrosse season, but the smiles she brings to the young field hockey program are invaluable, especially when the tough gets going.
“This is so much harder than lacrosse,” Lockhart admitted. “You can’t really have possession. The ball is always on the ground. But I love sports and love to run. And I just love OLMA because it’s such a nice community.”
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