Alumni Spotlight: Jill Dedman

Currently residing in San Diego, Calif., former Boston College goalkeeper Jill Dedman, has stayed connected to the game of field hockey since her time at The Heights. The double Eagle still own the BC record for single-season saves (240 in 1999) and career goals-against average (1.41).

DEDMAN FACTS
Graduated: 2000 and 2001
Majors: Bachelors in Human Development & Elementary Education; Masters in Educational
Psychology
Position: Goalkeeper
Years Played: 1996-2000 (redshirt in 1996)

What was your first job after graduation?
While I was finishing my masters after completing my fifth year of field hockey at Boston College, then head coach Sherren Grenese encouraged me to try out for the USA National Team. I decided to give it a shot expecting it to be an experience in itself. I ended up making the team and had to immediately move to Virginia Beach to train full time. I had planned on joining the Peace Corps or Teach America but field hockey put me on a different path!

What is your current job?
When I was at Boston College I was fortunate to have a specialized goalkeeper coach, Donna Lee Chung. Having this training made all the difference in my game and later inspired me to start Blockstar Field Hockey. Now I travel across the USA and abroad conducting specialized keeper camps and clinics. The business has grown to include merchandise and the creation of THE BLOCKSTAR Shooting Target, which is a lightweight portable target that encourages repetition= of high scoring percentage shots and can be used as a fill in goalkeeper.

Explain your career in between these two - in 140 characters?
Athlete: USA National Team and USA Indoor National Team.
Assistant Coach: University at Albany, Indiana University, University of California, Berkeley.

What has been your career highlight?
Being able to represent USA at the 2002 World Cup in Perth, Australia. It was there that it really hit me how amazing it is that sports can bring people together from all walks of life and from all over the world who share the love of the same game. Even if we couldn't understand the language of our opponents, when we stepped foot on the field we all understood the game. Now I am excited that I can link my product, THE BLOCKSTAR Shooting Target, with travel as I aspire to bring the target all over the world with proceeds going back to helping communities.

What was your career lowlight?
After Sept 11, 2001 we were in India to play a three test series for qualification for the World Cup. Pakistan sent a test missile to New Delhi (where we were staying) and the US Embassy told us we needed to leave India. In the middle of the night we packed up quickly and hopped a flight back to the USA without having played our games. Perhaps not exactly a lowlight but an intense experience I remember!

What are your top three tips for success?
1. Find a purpose to what you do that is beyond yourself. It will fuel you on days you
struggle for motivation.
2. Dream big, color outside the lines, stay true to who you are, take risks, march to
your own beat - it might turn out to be a good one.
3. Be kind to others.

What is your dream job?
The big, big goal of Blockstar is to have it be the avenue for people from the field hockey community to make a positive impact not only in the sport but in the world. The goal is to grow the game and give back to field hockey while also helping communities worldwide. The dream would be to have the BLOCKSTAR Shooting Target be a part of every field hockey program across the world with a portion of every sale put aside to make a difference with projects such as clean water and energy.

What is your best BCFH memory?
The longest game of hockey of my career: BC vs. Syracuse. There were many delays and interruptions to our game due to lightning. Both teams were determined to play. Eventually the game went into double overtime then two rounds of penalty strokes. I had the opportunity to take a penalty stroke as one of the five strokers but I missed the cage wide! Luckily, I made the next save in goal and we eventually won after my teammates scored!

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