Alvarez Prepared For Rigors of Next Level at Brown

For incoming freshmen, college can be overwhelming. Time management is key, especially for athletes who need to manage athletics, academics and social life. For many young people entering college for the first time, that is the hardest part of the transition.

Haley Alvarez is ready for that though because she already had a lot to manage while a student-athlete at .

Alvarez just graduated from BRHS this past spring and will be attending Brown University in the fall where she will be playing field hockey. Although she acknowledges that it will not be easy to make the transition from high school to college, she feels that she is prepared based off what she did all through high school.

“It’s not going to be easy but I did it all throughout high school so I should be just fine,” Alvarez said. “Not to say that I didn’t have a social life, but I didn’t have as much of a social life as people who didn’t play sports or work hard in the classroom. It’s a sacrifice you have to make and it has helped with my time management skills.”

Picking up the game in sixth grade, Alvarez did not only limit herself to field hockey while at Bridgewater. She played varsity lacrosse during her junior and senior years and even golf as an underclassman.

Alvarez admits that field hockey is her favorite, as well as her best, sport among the three because of how long she has been playing.

“I’ve been playing field hockey longer than any of the other sports I’ve played,” Alvarez said. “I’ve just gotten so used to it and I’m very comfortable on the field. I just love playing field hockey.”

This past field hockey season was just another normal season of success for Alvarez and the Panthers. Finishing with a record of 22-2, they won the Somerset County Tournament and lost in the Group IV state final 2-0 to No. 1-seeded Eastern. Alvarez finished her senior season with 13 goals and 23 assists and earned the Somerset County Field Hockey Player of the Year award from the Star Ledger.

Then at the end of the year, Alvarez finished her senior season strong by taking home a few awards for her work as a scholar athlete.  Alvarez won a Panther athletic award from Bridgewater-Raritan that was given out to 30 scholar athletes from the school. She also won National Army Reserve Scholar Athlete Award for her work on and off the field.

“It was very exciting to be nominated for these awards,” Alvarez said.  “The Army Reserve Award I didn’t even know about until I won it but to win was very exciting. It is definitely an honor to be recognized by the Army Reserve as a scholar athlete.”

Alvarez has been balancing athletics with academics for four years as a high school student and now feels she is ready for the college level.  The next step at Brown will not be easy, but Alvarez feels that if she takes the values and lessons learned at Bridgewater, she will be just fine as a freshman.

“I want to take the competitiveness that Bridgewater instilled in me to Brown,” Alvarez said. “We have always strived to be the best team in the state and I have definitely learned to play on a team that knows how to win and compete.”

As the days go by and the fall semester gets closer, Alvarez can do nothing but remember her days as a Panther. Leaving family, teammates and coaches, Alvarez is sad but excited to start a new chapter in her life as she prepares for new challenges both athletically and academically.

“It’s going to be tough because my family and coaches have helped me so much through high school,” Alvarez said.  “Coaches (Kathy) Debonis and (Lydia) Pinto were always there for me. If I needed extra help in a class or more time to study they would let me do that and get to practice late. Both my family and coaches were very supportive of what I wanted to accomplish.”

“I’m also going to miss how close-knit our team was,” Alvarez continued. “Field hockey and lacrosse are most of the same girls so I’m going to miss having my best friends on the field with me. At the same time I’m excited for the new challenge and the next step at Brown.”

Her expectations for this upcoming fall are somewhat different than what they have been in the past for Bridgewater. A standout for the Panthers during her career, she will now be stepping into a Brown field hockey team that is bringing in a strong freshman class.

“I think we will do well this season,” Alvarez said. “Behind a strong freshman class, we have a brand new coach who I have come to like so far so I am very confident that we will be good. Hopefully I can start out getting a little bit of playing time and get more as the season goes on.  It will be tough to sit and watch as a freshman but you learn how to get better as the season progresses and rewards will come to you.”