“Eagerness,” Hediger began. “She is eager to learn new stick skills and team tactics all the time.”

And?

“She is also a goofball. She will make you smile and laugh one minute and then the next she is racing down practicing her aerial dribbling.”

In other replies, Hediger also used “fiercely competitive,” “skilled,” and “humble.”

The rest of the Western Maine Conference agreed.

Dube, the fiercely competitive, skilled, eager and humble Poland co-captain has been named the WMC’s Class B player of the year.

“Last year, I made second team (all-conference),” Dube said. “I thought maybe this year I might be able to do it again if I worked really hard. There are so many great players in the conference. I’ve always seen who makes it on the first team and they are always really good players. I was surprised when I heard this year that I was on that team.”

Not only is Dube on the team, she leads it as Class B player of the year.

“I’ve been playing and practicing really hard all 12 months of the year,” Dube said. “In November, I get to go out to the National Festival in California, and I’m so excited for that. It’s one of the best events for field hockey in the world. It’s something I really like to do.”

As a freshman, Dube began playing for a Poland team that had been through a rough drought.

“They hadn’t won much,” Dube said, “And I think we lost almost every game that year, too.”

“Over the four years, all of the girls have remembered the reason why they started playing field hockey in the first place — to have fun, have a sense of belonging to a team, and to learn something new and fun,” Hediger said. “When they were sophomores, PRHS finally began to win games and even made playoffs for the first time in a number of years. They knew they were part of something special.”

The Knights went through an apparent regression as more young players entered the program last season. They finish 3-11, and missed the playoffs by one place. But it didn’t deter them.

“As juniors and seniors, they worked with such concentration and determination to develop mental toughness, speed, and overall team play,” Hediger said. “They knew they had all the components to be a strong, but needed time to hone their individual and team skills. Most of the starting line-up played winter indoor league in order to increase their amount of time together as a team.”

With Dube and classmate Abbie L’Italien, herself a second-team all-WMC player this season, leading the way, the Knights rebounded to post nine wins in 2014 and earned the No. 6 seed in the Western B playoffs.

“It was all about attitude,” Dube said. “At the start of the year, we put it in our heads that we were going to make the playoffs, and we were going to do well. When we beat Cape Elizabeth, Kennebunk and Greely at the start of the season, that was really a boost. It reassured us that we could do it.”

Dube was a driving force behind the positive energy. She scored 11 goals, added 12 assists (both led the team), and was a pivotal part of both the offensive and defensive penalty corner units.

“She has led by example showing that you can’t achieve the greatness you want unless you go after it,” Hediger said. “She has also been patient. With growing talent, a coach can worry about the attitude of a player who is growing at such a fast rate. Dube has remained humble and has taken the role of captain to be a role model and a teacher. She is eager to share new drills or skills to teammates. It is Dube who is showing how to do an aerial, or a reverse chip, or how to pop over a stick. She takes her role very seriously yet remains approachable.”

Though undecided about her next step, Dube wants it to involve the college game. She has been courted by a few schools, and has approached others at the Division II and Division III levels.

Whichever avenue she chooses, Hediger said, she will succeed.

“She has passion and she is humble,” Hediger said. “She loves this game. With each experience, she feels the sense of reward for her efforts. From winning the sticks skills competition with Maine STYX, to being voted Summer All-Star at the Bates League, to being named team MVP, she feels rewarded and thankful for her opportunities and also makes her want to go to the next level.”

WMC All-Stars

Gray-New Gloucester’s Jenny Holmquist joined Dube on the WMC’s Division 1 (Class B) first team all-conference list this season. Holmquist was the Patriots’ top player all season.

Joining L’Italien on the second team was Gray-New Gloucester’s Sara Carder.

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