Susan Burgess pushes her team to triumph
by Kathie Raleigh
Susan Burgess didn’t sleep the night of November 5. Her Burrillville Broncos field hockey team was keeping her awake.
Earlier that day the team had extended its undefeated season by winning the first of two playoff games in Division II, beating Cumberland High School 2-1.
“It’s an unbelievable memory for me,” says the coach, who is in her fifth season at Burrillville High School. “At the start, I could see the kids weren’t playing well. In fact, Cumberland scored first. I thought I’ve just got to let them get through this.”
They went into the second half tied 1-1, but by then, “Those kids were like a whole different team,” she recalls. So her lack of sleep that Saturday night wasn’t prompted by worries about the final playoff game on Monday.
It was from excitement.
“I never doubted that my girls could win,” she says, and they knew it, too. “From the moment we got on the bus,” for the long ride to Roger Williams University for the championship game, “to the time the game ended, there was an air of confidence. You could feel it. Everybody was upbeat; everybody was excited. Saturday had been like a dress rehearsal.”
The Broncos ended up taking home the trophy, the first state title since BHS teams won four consecutive division titles from 1984 to 1987.
The players took home lots more than the thrill of victory, however, and along with winning, those intangibles are what is celebrated during National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
February 6 marks the 27th annual observance of NGWSD, a day to note past and current sports achievements, the positive influence of participating in sports – and ongoing efforts to ensure equality and access for women in sports.
When Coach Burgess talks about her championship season – 17-0-1, the only tie being with Smithfield — she talks about competing to win. That, after all, is the point. That’s why, during the out-of-kilter first half of that playoff game, she met one player’s tears with toughness.
“You can’t play like this,” she said. “You’ve got to make a decision to stop crying, or I can’t put you back in the game. So, she did, and she had a great second half.”
But Burgess also knows that the ability to pull oneself together and keep going is a lesson for life. So is the discipline, the commitment, the physical fitness that comes from being active, and the concept of teamwork.
“These kids learn to work together. They become like a family. It’s a bond we always share,” she says.
The bond begins with relentless physical conditioning. “They run two miles at the beginning of practice – and they still have another hour and a half, two hours with me,” Burgess grins. That happens six afternoons a week.
The payoff is for the team — and for the individual. That first playoff game went to triple overtime, a one-hour, 31-minute marathon. “Even fitness enthusiasts could see by the second overtime that Burrillville had stamina,” she says.
As for off the field, “I tell them, ‘Remember when you ran the first time in September? How does it feel now?’ You just feel better,” Burgess says, “and that increases self-esteem and self-confidence.”
Confidence was the key to the team’s playoff success, but like fitness, it carries over to other experiences.
“They learn they can accomplish something, and a little bit of success goes a long way,” Burgess says. “It helps them make better decisions.”
She speaks from experience from coaching and playing. As a student at Uxbridge High School, she was in the top tier of her class and played in the band.
“But when I was introduced to sports, it was all over,” she laughs. She played basketball and softball, with gymnastics in between, but field hockey became her passion.
“I loved being outside, and fall is my favorite time of year. There was nothing like running up that big open field at the best time of the year.”
Her vocation, however, is nursing; she currently is a case manager with Salmon VNA and Hospice in Milford.
She also is the mother of four, and “They all played something,” she says, including her youngest, Sarah Rae Knowlton, 24, who was an assistant coach with her mother before becoming the head field hockey coach at Cranston East High School this year.
Looking back on this year’s success only prompts Burgess to look ahead, not just to next season but for seasons to come. She is focused on introducing field hockey through summer clinics and camps. She welcomes the proliferation of sports centers where girls have the opportunity to play and is thrilled that Bryant University has become a USA Futures site, a program that is “all about the future of field hockey,” she says.
Her philosophy, however, won’t waver. “Work hard every day. Develop a strong work ethic and discipline.”
But then, “Play a little pickup. That gets them to think on their own.” And that’s something that will last a lifetime.
A graduate of Syracuse University, Kathie Raleigh is the former Lifestyle Editor at The Call and now is a freelance writer.
photo by Kathie Raleigh
