LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — It takes a lot of discipline to excel in any sport.
Koehl Comiskey of dallas plays field hockey on the national level and has to keep a very regimented schedule.
"I wake up at around 6 a.m., and I just stretch out, and then I have a good breakfast. I have school, and then I get out at about 2:15 p.m. I'll come here. I'll do another stress, play some hockey until about four, and then I'll go work out. I'll come back over, and I'll hit around for a bit until six. I'll go home, do some homework and then I have to go for a run. And then I'm done," said Koehl Comiskey, Dallas.
Koehl practices at the Surge Field Hockey Facility in Kingston in between traveling to play with his teammates.
"For outdoor field hockey. I'm on the USA team, the national team, and then for indoor field hockey, which is played on the core. I'm on the senior Men's National Team," said Koehl.
But playing this sport in our area poses some challenges.
Girls and women's teams dominate the sport in northeastern and central Pennsylvania and on most of the East Coast.
"USA field hockey has it so you can play with the girls and nationals and tournaments. Until you're 14, and then you're no longer allowed to," explained Koehl.
So, in some cases, he can practice with those teams, but he has to travel to practice with teammates.
"So would you say most oftentimes you practice by yourself, most of the time? "Yes, I would. But it's not as bad as it sounds. I kind of like it because it just gives me time to work on what I'm bad at. And then when I go play with teams, I can kind of adjust it in the game," said Koehl.
Koehl plays a defensive position, so he spends a lot of time practicing with this rebounder.
Because anything that gets past him could ultimately end up as a goal for the other team
It takes a lot of practice to catch a pass and send it in the right direction, all while making sure you are using the right side of the stick, especially in some of the conditions Koehl plays at on the national level.
<Mainly in games, especially in Europe and Asia. The Turf turf is completely soaked in water just on purpose. There's big water cannons that will shoot water out to soak it to make the ball and your stick move a little quicker>
This month, he'll be testing his skills with his teammates on the U.S. Mens National Team in Canada against "Argentina, Canada, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, and we go down. Those are the poor, and then if we get top two out of the five, we qualify for the World Cup," he says.
Where Koehl and his teammates could play against teams from Europe, Africa, and Australia.