A visit with WPIAL field hockey champion Natalie Wilson

Background Info: Natalie Wilson isn’t one of the top scorers on the Penn-Trafford field hockey team. She’s one of the players whose job it is to keep other players from scoring. Wilson, a senior, has been a member of the Penn-Trafford varsity team for three years, first as a key offensive substitute in 2016 and as a starter the last two years. Her yeoman’s work on the backside has helped the Warriors win three consecutive WPIAL Class 2A championships and earn three straight berths in the state tournament.

Natalie Wilson on the experience playing in the WPIAL and winning three championships.
"It’s been amazing. It’s really taught me a lot about teamwork and really working together to get a common goal. Everybody wants to win WPIALs, but the fact that we’ve won it (three times) has really shown how much we’ve grown as a team."

Natalie Wilson what it’s like playing a team sport.
"I think that it’s a really great thing to learn to be on a team like that. We have people who step up all the time, we have people that are voted captains and we have people who also take initiative when the captains aren’t there or just to make a decision when we’re playing. I think we really see that in our team, especially with how much we’ve won. Both our captains this year are on defense, so the offensive decision come from girls who weren’t voted captain, but they all step up and take that leadership role."

Natalie Wilson on what being a WPIAL champion has personally done for her.
"For me personally it’s helped me to cement how good I am at field hockey and I don’t mean that in an arrogant way. There’s always a little bit of self-doubt if we lose to a team or if we have a bad day at practice. But winning championship tells us that we are a good team, I am good at the sport I play and I’ve gained aa lot of confidence."