Oct. 20, 2005

By Tom Acox - Special to sjuhawks.com

Saint Joseph's Nicole Antonini enters The Hawk's Nest, one of St. Joe's cafeteria's, around 11:30 on a typical Thursday just in time for lunch. The junior stand out on the field hockey team is dressed in team sweat shirt and pants and has her dark brown hair pulled back in a pony tail. Just as she is about to take a seat a man taps her on the shoulder. "You almost forgot this," he says as he hands her a Dasani water bottle.

Antonini later explains he works at Gompers School behind St. Joe's and they had been talking earlier "All the little girls always see us playing and they want to know what sport it is because they want to play. He was asking if we could teach the girls." Antonini speaks enthusiastically about younger girls learning the sport because she was fortunate enough to play in leagues prior to high school.

Antonini grew up about 30 minutes from St. Joe's, in Collegeville, PA. She explains that around her neighborhood there just happened to be field hockey leagues, which until recently, didn't exist elsewhere for younger girls - especially before high school. Field hockey is one of the fastest growing sports for young girls, and after meeting Antonini it's easy to see why.

Antonini grew up playing several sports besides field hockey, including swimming and softball, "I was a pitcher for six years." In high school, at Methacton she was also a starter on the varsity soccer team for three years. Currently, she's part of the field hockey team's new Leadership Counsel. Antonini explains the newly formed group consists of around six or seven girls who talk to all the players on the team and then meet to discuss any issues the team maybe having that particular week. They got the idea after the Philadelphia Flyers' Ken Hitchcock came and talked to the team about a similar system the Flyers use. "We're very close this year as a team. We all hang out, freshman and seniors," Antonini says, so the system must be working.

On the field, Antonini has been a huge offensive catalyst for the Hawks. "I used to play mainly defense but awhile ago the coach had me to switch to midfield," says Antonini. Two years into her career this has proved to be a great move for her. She started all 19 games as a sophomore and was voted the team's co-MVP. At the start of the 2005 season Antonini ranks 6th all-time in goals, 5th in assists, and 4th in points. Two full seasons are staring those numbers in the face and its unlikely Antonini will leave St. Joe's without being number one in at least one if not all of those categories.

You'll find Antonini lifting in the gym by 8:30 on a normal day. After hitting the weights, she'll spend a little time in the library and then head to class. Once her early classes are finished Antonini meets up with the Leadership Counsel and finally somewhere around noon finds herself eating lunch in the cafeteria. From four to six, she's back on the field practicing. That may seem like a busy day to most but not to Antonini. "We're really fortunate about our practice time, I think the soccer boys are practicing way late at night which isn't fun," says Antonini.

Antonini is a marketing major and hopes to work in a sports concentrated field. She recently got an internship working with the Philadelphia 76ers through St. Joes' Dave Allen. She is also a self proclaimed "people person", which works out nicely since part of the internship is being a greeter at Sixer's games.

It's tough to keep up with Antonini and she claims the hardest part of being a student-athlete is balancing the school work with sports while still trying to remain socially active. "I'm always exhausted," she says, though you wouldn't guess it from the smile that's perpetually plastered to her face walking around St. Joe's campus.

Antonini readily admits she still sleeps with her "tiny pillow", her favorite past time is napping and if she didn't play sports she'd probably sleep more. It's unlikely she's going to catch up on sleep anytime soon though. She loves the feeling when people realize she plays field hockey for St. Joe's. "It kind of makes you feel a little bit important - and a lot of people look up to the fact that we are not only going to college but playing field hockey at a division one level."