Five freshmen joined Dartmouth field hockey this fall, arriving in Hanover from four different countries and bringing with them international experiences, varied academic interests and years of competition on the field. Two of the newcomers have previously represented their countries on the world stage, while all five of them are experiencing Dartmouth and Division I field hockey for the first time.
The Dartmouth sat down with co-captain Lucia Campaño ’27 and the five new members of the class of 2030 — Clara Fonseca ’30, Lucy Langlands ’30, Eliza Martin ’30, Cookie Motroni ’30, and Julie Seth ’30 — to discuss their field hockey journeys and experiences so far at Dartmouth.
For all of them, field hockey has been a significant part of their lives.
“I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember,” Fonseca said.
The Chilean midfielder started playing hockey at age 4 at a club and later went on to win the 2025 Chilean National Championship with Club Deportivo Universidad Católica Santiago, Chile.
Highlands, who is from Scotland, started at age 6 as part of a club team. She was the top goal scorer for Clydesdale Western HC, a club team based in Glasgow, Scotland, before coming to Dartmouth.
Martin began playing at 10 with the International Field Hockey Club of Kentucky. Seth began her journey at the same age and played with Freedom Hockey Club in Maryland.
Motroni said her field hockey journey was “very American.”
“I started playing with my hometown team on a grass field and then slowly worked up to playing on regular field turf and then actual turf,” Motroni said. “I played with Lilly Venezia ’29 and Ally Brosie ’28 at my club and then Venezia in high school.”
Seth and Fonseca have represented the Canadian U-21 team and the Italian U-18 team, respectively, on the international stage.
Throughout the recruiting process, Dartmouth stood out because of the balance between rigorous academics and intense field hockey, the new members said.
“We get the best of both worlds here — both the student and the athlete are valued,” Motroni explained. “We’re able to explore and do the most in both of those areas.”
Like many other Dartmouth students, Martin said she was also drawn to Dartmouth’s close-knit community.
“I chose Dartmouth because of the amazing community that I’ve been able to witness through my sister, Eva Martin ’28,” Martin said. “Through visiting her, I got to see how close the campus is and that’s just a community that I really want to be a part of.
While playing for Dartmouth fulfilled their dreams of playing Division I field hockey, the transition does not come without challenges, such as adjusting to an intense training schedule and a 20-hour commitment each week.
“Freshman fall is just so intimidating — the first term at Dartmouth is definitely not easy at all,” Campaño said. “The season is so much and you’re so busy all the time that you don’t really have time to explore campus as much.”
“That’s different from back home where sometimes if you feel bad or if you’re not in the mood, then it’s a bad training and you just have to get over it,” Seth added. “But here, it’s always at 100% and there’s always somebody pushing you to go harder or somebody congratulating you on something and I feel like that support is really helpful.”
As a result, the players both have a lot of agency over their own workouts and the need to keep up with the rest of the team, Langlands said.
“I can’t necessarily get away with the sort of things I would have been able to get away with in my high school hockey team,” she explained. “I have to take responsibility for my own performance and not just wait around for someone to offer me help, but actively seek it.”
In addition to the pressures of being a Division I athlete, the team members face the same challenges as many other first-years: adjusting to a new support system and being away from home.
“I think the hardest transition for me was losing my support system that I rely on a lot,” Martin said. “The great thing about this school is I’ve been able to find such a strong one here with my teammates, coaches, my sister and her friends, and then making friends of my own.”
Similarly, Fonesca said the “hardest part” as an international student was “going so far away from home and leaving a different culture, experience and different language as well.”
Campaño, who is from Argentina, related to Fonseca’s challenges but said time helped to ease them.
“In the winter and spring of freshman year, I truly fell in love with campus and got the chance to meet more people and my circle got bigger and bigger,” Campaño said. “There’s only up from here.”
The leadership team, which consists of Ella Bowman ’27, McLaine Leik ’27, Raina Johns ’27, Amelia Luessman ’28 and Campaño, aims to support the new members as they navigate these changes.
“I hope everyone knows that we truly care about them as people — we’re friends, not just teammates,” Campaño said. “It’s checking in on people, talking to them, being nice to each other and hoping that the leadership group is not intimidating.”
Despite the challenges, the freshmen are excited for their time at Dartmouth.
“Being able to play against the best field hockey players internationally is so cool,” Motroni said. “Being on the field with the team and everyone working so hard is such a fun environment to be in because everyone is just trying their hardest and being part of that collective goal.”
