When Tessa Spingola first stepped onto the ice as a high school freshman, she never imagined her hockey career would lead her to a starting spot on a college team. But now, the Springfield College freshman is a member of both the Pride varsity softball team and the college’s club hockey team.
“I love each and every girl on the team and am forever grateful I get to call them my family,” Spingola said Tuesday.
Spingola is attending Springfield to study physical therapy and play softball in the spring, but after she posted on a college social media channel indicating her interest in playing hockey, the school’s club team reached out to her and recruited the Rindge native.
“Figuring out how to manage softball and ice hockey practices and games while also being in the PT program was tough at first,” Spingola said. “I quickly learned that I couldn’t procrastinate when I had practice or a game, so I made myself a schedule every day to give myself time to go to classes, eat, study, see my friends and go to practice. Coming into college, the workload was a lot more intensive compared to high school, so at first it was a struggle to manage both.”
While playing for the club team doesn’t have the same time commitment as a varsity program, it still allows Spingola to improve her game and have fun, and garners plenty of support from the college community. And it still has all the excitement of interscholastic athletics. The Pride compete against schools like Smith, Westfield State and Mount Holyoke; at 4-3 on the season, Springfield is looking toward a big game at Norwich Feb. 12 to get them into the postseason.
Spingola is playing well, too, as she has already scored twice in the seven games as a defender.
“As a first-year player, scoring my first goal was an amazing experience,” Spingola said. “I felt like I was on top of the world, with all of my teammates and family members there to see it.”
This is the first season that Spingola has played for any coach other than her father, ConVal-Conant Griffins coach Chris, and she is happy to carry on playing the sport he taught her.
“My dad has been my ice hockey coach since the day I first stepped on the ice when I was young to my last high school ice hockey game, which is something I will forever cherish,” Spingola said. “While it breaks my heart that this is the first year he hasn’t been my coach, I love seeing him, my mom and my little sister [Sophia] – who is now a stud Griffins ice hockey player repping No. 3 for me – in the stands cheering me on with huge smiles on their faces. They will forever be my biggest fans, and they make sure to never miss a game and always be there to support me.”