Athletic Teacher Helps These 'Cave Girls' Make Goals

One Amherst Middle School teacher is the definition of a jock, and works tirelessly to bring her passion to a new generation of female athletes.

Amanda Rogers of Amherst is the director of Cave Girl Field Hockey and Lacrosse, a program that builds fundamental athletic skills for girls of all ages. She has spent the past 15 years building a presence for these sports in Southern New Hampshire.

Now, these sports have steadily been rising in popularity as Rogers continues to develop the athleticism and confidence needed to turn these young players into a “Cave Girl.”

A LIFELONG LOVER OF SPORTS

It is hard to name a sport that this longtime athlete HASN’T played in her lifetime. Amanda Rogers has done it all, including field hockey, soccer, gymnastics, lacrosse, basketball, softball, swim team, bowling and even fencing.

“I want to be a part of anything sports,” said Rogers. “I just love all sports and being a part of a team. I don’t care what team it is; I just love all sports.”

She tried her hand at cheerleading when she was younger, but preferred a ball and bat to cheers and flips. As she grew up in Philadelphia, Penn., her parents encouraged this athlete to take on any challenge put before her.

Rogers remained in Pennsylvania for college where she worked as a swim team coach. This was also where she was exposed to the sport of lacrosse, which turned out to be the perfect fit for such an active young woman.

“I liked it because I wanted to run more,” she said.

Field hockey was also a huge deal in the area, and, of course, Rogers had taken a liking to it as well. It was her swimming experience though that brought her to New Hampshire after getting hired to coach the Milford swim team. This also led to her first middle school teaching position at Milford Middle School.

Yet, some of the sports she had come to love out west were nowhere near as popular in the northeast. Field hockey could be found in the high schools, but was practically invisible when it came to the younger athletes. She coached the first team at the middle school, and no one really had any previous experience.

Rogers wanted to change that.

THE EVOLUTION OF A CAVE GIRL

Seeing one of her favorite sports underrepresented in her new home was not something that Amanda Rogers was going to take sitting down.

She pulled together some young athletes through Milford Parks and Recreation and started the first Cave Girl summer program for field hockey. The league started off with a little over twenty girls participating in the first year.

The program gave the girls a chance to sharpen their skills before the season starts, and introduced many of them to the sports.

“It got them playing and thinking about field hockey,” said Rogers. “ It made them more confident. It is great to know how to hold the stick, but I think confidence can give you the edge.”

The Cave Girl program has been growing larger each year, and now, fifteen years later, it is truly a “movement.” Hundreds of girls from grades 1-8 come from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and other areas of New England come to hone their skills in field hockey, and more recently lacrosse.

Southern New Hampshire University hosts the program, which runs various camps, clinics and leagues during summer and fall. Rogers said that the university has been a perfect base for the program and they continue to “bend over backward” and support the Cave Girl program.

Why call her it Cave Girl you ask? Well, Rogers said she wanted to develop a name that would stick in people’s heads and set it apart from other programs. The logo was drawn by one of the young athletes in the program.

BUILDING ATHLETES INSIDE AND OUT

Rogers is proud to share that Cave Girl is now an official FUNdamental Field Hockey site, a youth development initiative to expose the sport to thousands of children nationwide by providing free equipment and emphasizing fun physical activity. The USA Field Hockey Team is launching 250 programs across the nation this year to encourage young athletes.

Her program was one of the first fifty selected, which shows the quality of work done by the leaders and coaches within it. The coaches range from college, high school, club coaches and even former high school All-Americans.

In fact, many of the coaches were Cave Girls themselves at one point who have chosen to guide the next batch of young athletes.

“It makes me really proud,” said Rogers. “ I know it sounds like a lot, but I know all of these kids and am really connected to them. I just feel like this has been such a positive thing for so many people throughout the years.”

Rogers herself comes with a wealth of experience in coaching and athletics. She is a USFHA Level 1 Certified Coach, former Division 1 field hockey player and has coached at the National Indoor Tournament and the National Field Hockey Festival. She is the former director and coach of Granite State Elite, and has also coached for Seacoast, Sport Eurotour (a World Camp sponsored program), the New England Futures Program and the New England Premier Field Hockey Showcase.

Her lifelong experience coaching athletics has told her that the kids should be having fun while playing their sport, no matter what their goals are. All of her coaches abide by this philosophy that gives every skill level a chance to enjoy themselves.

“We want them all to feel successful and valued at whatever level,” she said. “We try really hard, even though we have a lot of kids, to coach the individual according to their personality and needs.”

COACHING ON THE FIELD, IN THE CLASSROOM

Amanda Rogers currently works as a 6th grade teacher at Amherst Middle School and coaches field hockey there as well. She said that she loves coaching at the school she teaches at, because she can be more involved with the students.

“Middle school is a tough time of life,” said Rogers. “Some may not do as well in school, but shine in sports. Seeing those kids in another setting lets me be another positive influence outside of the classroom. I can show them that teachers care about them in all aspects of their lives.”

She finds teaching and coaching to be very similar, and equally rewarding as she sees young girls succeed.

“I always approached coaching as a teacher, because I am a teacher. It is who I am. Coaching and teaching are the basically same thing. You have to adjust for learning styles and assess what their particular skills.”

The future looks bright for the Cave Girl program as Rogers get ready to kick off the fall clinics in September. Registration is now open for Fall Field Hockey Clinics, with a goalkeeping clinic added this year for middle and high school players.

A Manchester/Goffstown area clinic may also be in the works, and Rogers is planning even more programs for next year.

If you are interested in joining Cave Girl Field Hockey and Lacrosse, please contact Amanda Rogers at (603) 765-1331 or by email at cavegirlfh@gmail.com. Visit their website and Facebook page for more information.