Sam Turner captains first Women’s Varsity Ice Hockey at Plymouth State University

Coach, teammates elect Turner and Williams in unanimous vote

By John M. Benson
April 26, 2007

Samantha Turner, Pawling High School Class of 2003, was chosen by her teammates to be the captain of the 2006-2007 Plymouth University Panthers Women’s Ice Hockey Team, the first year women’s ice hockey has been a varsity sport at the school.

While in high school in Pawling, Sam Turner was the captain of the girls’ ice hockey team with Pawling Youth Hockey, and also the captain and All-League and All-Section as the goaltender and team leader on the Pawling High School field hockey team.

Turner’s ice hockey coach, Rich Reid, relied on her leadership in the same way Heather Hoffay has in her first season as head coach at Plymouth State University.

Rich Reid said of Turner, “In March of 2001, Pawling 19U girls ice hockey captain Robin Nelson handed the reigns to Samantha Turner.  Sam was only a sophomore, however most of the kids on the team were eighth and ninth graders.  Before our eyes, Sam became a leader and a great captain.  She set a fine example by working hard during practices.  She encouraged and rooted for her teammates and was a model team player.  All of those youngsters Sam mentored were talented student athletes who can now be found at universities such as Albany College, Bard, Connecticut College, SUNY Cortland, Franklin Pierce, Manhattanville, Northeastern, Princeton, Sacred Heart and Western New England.  Five of her former teammates have followed her example as captain.  Obviously, her teammates at Plymouth State have the same warm opinion of Sam shared by her former teammates.  To be elected Co-Captain of a college hockey team is a rare honor and it could not have happened to a nicer person than “Sam I Am” Turner.  It takes a village and a great family to raise people like Sam.  The entire community, including all the many Pawling Hockey sponsors and volunteers, and especially her former school teachers, deserve credit for helping her to earn such a tremendous accomplishment.” 

Turner says that Plymouth State has been a great school for her, and she is very excited about the new ice hockey program. She said the school has been able to recruit a high grade of player now that it is a varsity program, and she is very excited about the high level of talent among her younger teammates.

As Turner said, “There are two of us who are seniors, and we are both captains. Kelly Williams is the other senior and the other captain. She is a very close friend, and she is one of my roommates. This is the first year we have played against varsity competition. We have had a club team for three years. I began playing in my sophomore year, so I played on the club team for two years, and I am now playing on the team that is actually considered an independent. Next year, the team will be a member of the ECAC East, a very good ice hockey conference. It has been a difficult season, because we are not used to the high level of teams. We are playing some very tough teams. It is an adjustment, it is a building year, and then hopefully next year, they will do more recruiting, now that we are recruiting for the varsity program. All of the freshmen who came in this year are awesome players. They are really great. Coach Hoffay is a brand new coach this season at Plymouth State. She is a very good coach. This has been an adjustment for her, because she is trying make us better this year, and also build up the program for the future. Things are going very well, and we are all excited to be the pioneers of this new varsity Women’s Ice Hockey
Team at Plymouth State University.”

Turner and her friend and roommate Kelly Williams are the two seniors on the team that is dominated by younger players who were recruited to the school this year for the new varsity program.

Turner and Williams played in the club ice hockey program at the school for two years, their sophomore and junior seasons, while they and their teammates lobbied school officials to elevate women’s ice hockey to varsity status.

Having succeeded in getting the varsity program going, Turner and Williams returned for their senior season to play on the varsity team, and were elected by unanimous vote to serve as captains for the 2006-2007 season for the Panthers.

Head coach Heather Hoffay, in her first year at the school and now the director of the women’s ice hockey program, depended heavily on the two senior captains to help the younger players adjust to college life. The college experience is a challenge to all underclassmen, but it can be especially difficult for athletes who must organize themselves to accomplish both their academics and the rigorous schedule of practice, travel and games.

Hoffay said of Turner, “Samantha and Kelly are doing a great job as captains. They were overwhelmingly chosen by their teammates to lead the team as the two captains. Even though Sam isn’t one of our stronger players, as you said our younger players are our stronger players, her teammates really look up to her a lot, and she is just a great leader. That is really hard to do, when you are in a program where you are one of the older players, and you know that you are not the one who is seeing a lot of ice. She is one of the hardest working ones on the team, and she really makes up for a lack of playing experience throughout her life by working hard and having a great attitude and being a great leader.

“I was definitely fortunate walking into the program, to have the two of them here when I got here. Even before they were elected captains, they were doing a great job, and did a lot to get the program to where it is now, to get it to be varsity status. Even though a lot of the time we are looking into the future a couple of years, and they know they are not going to be here, they are doing everything they can to make sure when they leave the program, it is in a good place.

“It is a big jump, going from being a club program to being a varsity program. Last year, I think they only skated two or three times a week, and now they are going every day for longer practices, still trying to juggle all of their classes, and trying to take care of their bodies when they are being challenged more than they were last year. So, it is a big jump for everybody, and the girls are doing a great job of keeping up. They are the ones who wanted this, and they are doing a good job of keeping their attitude up and working as hard as they can. The captains are doing a good job, and especially Sammie is doing a good job, of setting a good example of time management and doing well academically.”

Tuner will graduate with her class at Plymouth State this June with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education.

She plans to return to Pawling next fall to assist coach June Lagan with the field hockey team at Pawling High School, while she surveys her options for graduate school with a an eye toward Manhattanville College.

Wherever Sammie Turner goes, and whatever she does, she will always be the “captain” showing the way for her teammates.