Covering the Field: Introducing Kate Burke

by Sheri Duff

Kate Burke is a hard worker. Champlain Valley Union (CVU) head field hockey coach Kate McDonald specifically said, “Kate has become a reliable playmaker and has contributed to our success this season. She has improved tremendously. Her best game so far was a two goal, one assist performance at Colchester last week,” she said. “We will look to Kate to make key contributions as we head into the postseason.”

A native of Shelburne, Burke has “lived in the same house on the same street my entire life.” Her family includes parents Laurie and Tim, older sister Molly, a junior at Denison University, and a black Labrador retriever named Maggie.

Burke credits her sister for her interest in field hockey. “I played soccer in middle school but wasn’t confident I could continue to play in high school,” she said. “So with encouragement from my field hockey playing sister, I picked up a stick two weeks before CVU tryouts and made the junior varsity B team.”

It may come as a surprise that this two-year varsity field hockey player didn’t like the sport the first year. “Now it has become my favorite sports season,” Burke noted. And with good reason: not only has Burke supplied four goals and three assists, the team record stands at 9-3-1 with one more game to go before the postseason.

In addition to field hockey, Burke is involved in Class Council and is a four-year varsity Track & Field runner and Nordic skier. In fact, it is her skiing prowess of which she is most proud. “Throughout my life, I put great importance on working hard, which enhances opportunities. I have been Nordic skiing for nearly 11 years and in my sophomore year I made it on the state team,” Burke explained. “Though I was the eighth seed, I trained hard for weeks in preparation for the race. The greatest difficulty was mentally preparing for a physically taxing race. Although I was physically prepared, the mental loomed over me the night before. I ended in seventh for my team, and as a team, we won the state championship. A quote I refer to is, ‘The harder you work, the luckier you get.’ I worked hard for my spot on the team and it paid off. It proved that hard work tends to be the most important aspect of achieving one’s goals.”

Burke’s next goal is to pursue her interest in the medical field. “I’m looking at colleges that have a physician assistant’s track,” she offered. “Right now my top choice is Northeastern but I just looked at St. Lawrence and of course Denison [where my sister Molly attends] is on the list,” she added.

Burke’s many talents and incredible work ethic are sure to bring her luck both on and off the field in her college career and beyond.