Field hockey a bond for Hopkinton family

The precious moment was not lost on Joan Bannon. Her twin daughters, Keelin and Mallory, were out on the field, playing for her Southeast scholastic field hockey squad.

Her eldest daughter, Kristin, was assisting her along the sideline at Harvard University. Her other daughter, Annika, was at the scorer's table, running the game clock. And David Bannon, husband and proud father, was in the stands at last weekend's Bay State Games matchup, cheering on the entire Hopkinton clan.

Last Sunday afternoon, her Southeast team captured the gold medal with a 6-1 win over Metro/Northeast. It was quite an achievement for Bannon, serving as a head coach for the first time in the annual summer competition. But having the entire family together on the field the previous day was pretty special.

"One of my favorite moments," said Bannon.

"I remember when Kristin and Annika did Bay State Games, Keelin and Mallory would want to be the ball girls on the sidelines, anxious to get a BSG T-shirt. . . . Those memories mean more than field hockey itself."

The game, though, dominates their free time and has fostered a bond among mother and daughters.

Last fall, in her first season as Hopkinton High field hockey coach, and with freshman twins Keelin and Mallory members of the varsity squad, Joan Bannon guided the Hillers to a 10-4-6 mark and the Division 2 South quarterfinals.

A Hopkinton native, she played both field hockey and lacrosse at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. After graduation, still with a thirst to compete, she suited up in adult women's soccer and softball leagues.

But it wasn't until Kristin was born that Joan returned to field hockey.

"I just wanted to keep playing a sport, but I worked at a business job, so I didn't have the time for anything else," she recalled.

"Then I had Kristin and had the opportunity to coach at the Bancroft School [in Worcester], because their coach was on maternity leave. It just felt so good to come back to field hockey, especially to do it on a whim, when I wasn't expecting it."

Joan spent the next three years coaching at Hopkinton Middle School before moving up to guide the high school program last fall. She also serves as a regional coach for the US Field Hockey Association "Futures" program.

Though her coaching resume is impressive, Joan admitted the real satisfaction comes from watching her daughters' development in the sport.

This fall, Kristin will be a sophomore at Harvard, where she plays for the Division 1 Crimson field hockey team. Annika will be a freshman on the Georgetown University field hockey squad.

At Notre Dame Academy in Worcester, the two played together on one Division 1 state championship team (2003), with Kristin winning another in 2002, while Annika was on the Rebels' 2005 title team.

The sisters' paths to playing Division 1 college field hockey, however, could not have been more different.

"I coached Annika my first year in the Hopkinton [Middle School] program," said Joan Bannon.

"And she had always wanted to play in college. Kristin said she never wanted to play field hockey. Then one day, out of nowhere, she tells me she's going to play field hockey in college. It was an all-of-a-sudden prediction, but she made it come true."

Kristin Bannon traded in her soccer cleats after her mother's sister, Ginger Daly, then the field hockey coach at Becker College, introduced her to the sport with a stick. She also worked with Annika, spending time on fundamentals and basic skills.

"I don't really know what happened," said Kristin Bannon. "I was hard-core soccer, and then my cousins and aunt played with me on a family vacation and I just loved it. I got so much from the sport. I played on the Cape Ann Coalition [club team], so I've been with the same girls since I was in eighth grade and just had a great group of supporters."

The government studies major returns to the Crimson as a midfielder. She has also stepped in to help prepare Annika for playing at the collegiate level.

"We had a family decision," said Annika of playing her final season at Notre Dame last fall.

"Mom said if she took the Hopkinton job, she'd miss my last year. But my older sister, she sat with me the past summer and helped me a lot. My dad was also there at every game, and he'd ask to hit around in the backyard with us. It was tough not having my mom at my games. She was there, just not physically."

Annika plans to play midfield/forward and study human sciences when she heads to Washington, D.C., next month.

Mallory, a midfielder, and Keelin, a forward, will be returning starters as sophomores for their mother this fall.

"It's more comfortable being the youngest, because we've been learning the sport from our sisters," said Mallory, who scored a pair of goals for Southeast in a 6-1 win over the West squad in the Bay State Games.

"Playing with Keelin is easy, because I know where she'll be, how she'll react. It gives us an added comfort level during our high school games."

And their father will continue to watch.

"He's so supportive and involved, but it's a women's sport, so he doesn't have the same perspective as we do," said Keelin. with a laugh. "He tries to practice with us, and we're on his case because he's pretty bad, but we have tons of fun doing it. It's cute."