Sharon Danforth: From the beginning to today, a big part of the game
CAMDEN — Sharon (Graffam) Danforth has been involved in field hockey in the Midcoast since its inception at Camden-Rockport High School in 1970, and today she remains engaged, serving as the official scorekeeper for the Camden Hills Regional High School team.
Danforth was born in Camden and lived in Rockport until she was in the fourth-grade, when her family moved to Bath. She graduated from Morse High School in 1960 and went to the University of Maine at Orono.
"I was first introduced to the sport of field hockey at college," said Danforth. "Women at UMO did not play varsity sports at that time, but we played intramural and did have a few games against Bates College. I loved the sport right from the start."
Once she learned the game, Danforth was always ready to get involved in a match. Over the years, she has held many positions in the game, JV coach, official and scorekeeper.
"When the high school began playing field hockey in the fall of 1970, I offered to help the coach, Kathy Loretta Walley, with the team," said Danforth. "It was a new sport for everyone except one senior who had played at a different school."
Danforth said officials were very scarce back then and if you knew anything at all about the sport you were recruited.
"I became a referee and did games in Camden, Rockland and Thomaston," said Danforth. "Because there were not enough officials to do all the games, I got my husband (Steve) into being a referee as well. He loved it."
Danforth officiated for four years until Camden-Rockport decided to hire a JV coach. She preferred working with the teams and the girls over refereeing, so she applied for the job and got it. That was the fall of 1974, four years after the start of the program at then-Camden-Rockport High School.
"I coached the JV team from 1974-1979," said Danforth. "At that time I was working more hours, and there was a former player who was willing to coach so although I still attended all the games, I was not coaching."
Danforth continued to referee for a while doing JV and junior high games, but allowed her certification to run out and did not renew it so couldn't officially do high school games without being rated. After a brief hiatus from coaching, Danforth and her husband became co-coaches of the JV team in 1986.
"He did the practices, we both did the home games and I did the away games," said Danforth. "We coached like this for eight years through the fall of 1993."
That year Kathy Loretta Walley retired as the varsity coach and there were two excellent applicants for her job.
"We decided it was time for us to retire from coaching as well so they hired both of the applicants," said Danforth. "The one who took our place was Jan Holmes-Jackson, who went on to become a successful varsity coach at Camden-Rockport and Camden Hills before moving on to Belfast. It was a good move for all."
The origins of the game, the history of Field Hockey The sport of field hockey — or just "hockey," as it's known in most of the 112 countries it is played — is widely considered one of the top six sports in the world. Field hockey's origins are ancient. Proof can be found in the simplicity of the game: Teams use a stick to hit a ball into a goal. Ancient Field Hockey The Middle Ages English Royalty Modern Hockey Olympic Field Hockey International Body is Formed Women in Field Hockey The Men's Game in the United States India Leads in Olympic Medals Field hockey is the national sport of India, a country that earned eight Olympic gold medals in men's competition. India leads the Olympics with the highest number of field hockey gold medals among all national teams. Synthetic Turf The Indian dribble is one of the many new tactics and techniques used for the faster field. Also, since the application of turf, Indian and Pakistani domination ended. Wealthier European countries have since dominated the Olympics. Synthetic fields are now mandatory for all national and international tournaments. Gender Disparities Forward Movement |
Currently, Lindsey Clement is the varsity coach, having played for Jackson before replacing her at the helm of the Windjammers.
Danforth, who has been around the game at Camden schools from the start, says what she is doing today - scorekeeping and timing the games - is very fulfilling. Over the years, she has done it all and enjoyed it all, well most of it.
“I loved it all (officiating was my least favorite however),” said Danforth. “I had some wonderful and fun times coaching. The girls who played field hockey were terrific young women, but I really enjoy the scoring and timing now. I just get to enjoy watching the games without any pressure, and the game has improved so much from when I started.”
Getting involved in field hockey was something that to this day Danforth is happy she did. When she started, it was a new sport in the Midcoast. Lincoln Academy and Rockland had teams before 1970. Camden-Rockport, Georges Valley and Medomak Valley joined those two teams in 1970 and they became the Knox-Lincoln League. There were no state titles for girls back then. Belfast, Wiscasset and Mount View joined the league within the next few years.
Over the years, 1970-2015, Danforth has seen all the players from Camden and the surrounding schools in many capacities - official, coach and scorekeeper. When asked to pick out her top three players from Camden or the Midcoast schools, she was put on the spot and but answered nonetheless.
“I’ll start with Karen Hardy who played on my first JV team in 1974,” said Danforth. “She was a sophomore playing field hockey for the first time ever, but she was a natural athlete and she could flat out play the game. That team scored 44 goals and gave up only two. Karen scored over half of the goals and assisted on many others.”
Danforth continued, “At around the same time in the 70s there was a girl that played for Rockland, Darla Porter, and I remember her being very impressive. Tammy Barrows played for Rockland in the late 80s and went on to play at UMO in the 90s and she was very talented. Camden-Rockport had a foreign exchange student from Germany in the 90s named Anke Brummer (she went on to play at Boston College), and she was as powerful as any girl I have seen. She was used to playing on turf in Germany, and that was the year Camden-Rockport played Belfast under the lights on Maine Maritime’s turf field. That was probably the most exciting game I’ve seen.”
However, Danforth could not stop at three as she went on to talk about a couple of this year’s players on the Camden Hills team.
“As I said there have been many, many great players in the Midcoast, but I don’t think I can remember anyone more skilled at passing and dribbling the ball down the field than Emily Daggett and Molly Davee, two seniors on this year’s Camden Hills team,” said Danforth. “They are exceptional and exciting to watch. I have named more than five players, but I would be remiss in not mentioning the three Midcoast coaches - Jan Jackson (Belfast), Joanna Hall (Rockland) and Lindsey Clement (Camden Hills) - who were all excellent players in their own right and have proven themselves as terrific coaches as well.”
One of the pressing things this reporter wanted to ask Danforth was how the game has changed. From a fan’s perspective, the game is a little faster, but to a veteran, what are the changes that matter?
“The game is so much faster now and that is a very good thing,” said Danforth. “People who don’t understand the game think there are a lot of whistles, but believe me, it’s nothing compared to what it used to be. The girls know what the whistle means and it usually doesn’t stop the flow of the game.”
Danforth continued, “Offsides was abolished in the 80s, and that was very good for field hockey. Back in the old days when a ball when out of bounds a player had to bend and roll the ball by hand into play with everyone else at least 5 yards away. Now a player can just get the ball and start dribbling it or drive it into play. In the early 80s the goalies still had hardly any protective gear, just big, bulky, heavy leg pads and bulky hard boot-like covers for the feet. They didn’t even have helmets. We used softball catchers chest protector to help out. Sticks were much more awkward too. The girls were not even required to wear mouth guards when we started in the 70s. There have been many, many changes to the game since the early 70s and I think most all of the changes have been a plus for the game.”
In 2008 Danforth lost her husband to colon cancer, but she has continued to be involved with the game that they both loved.
Next season when field hockey starts up, Danforth will be there, with sharp pencils, a smile on her face and all the years of knowledge that she has. Field hockey owes Sharon Danforth a great deal of gratitude for the years of work she has put in to promote the game, teach the student-athletes and have a positive impact on so many.
Reach Ron Hawkes at sports@penbaypilot.com