Aurise Tattrie has amassed perhaps the longest college career of any former Watertown field hockey player, as she enters her sixth year playing at UMass Lowell. She will play her final season as a captain of the River Hawks, but the journey has had its ups and downs.
In her time in Lowell, Tattrie (who plays back) has appeared in 54 games, made 52 starts, scored one goal and added four assists for 7 total of points. She has played 3,083 minutes for the River Hawks.
Some of the highlights of her time at UMass Lowell have been when the team cracked the Top 20, making it as high as No. 17. The River Hawks also won the Kennedy Cup for the first time in 2023 by beating UMass Amherst.
For the third straight year, Tattrie will serve as a captain of the River Hawks. The team will be a young one with 10 freshmen coming in next fall.
“I was a captain my senior, fifth year, and I will be in my sixth year,” she said. “So it will be a little weird being 23 years old trying to gather all these 18 year olds and help them guide their way through. But it will be fun.”
Tattrie has experience being a captain from her days in Watertown. She was a co-captain of the Raiders with Ali Kennedy.
Tattrie remembers when she first decided to play for UMass Lowell.
“I committed when I was actually really young. I was a sophomore in high school,” she said.
Before high school, Tattrie said she did not take field hockey that seriously, but when she arrived at WHS, and played for Hall of Fame Head Coach Eileen Donahue, she committed herself to the sport.
“When you’re in Watertown, and you get to high school, you kind of have to start taking it seriously with Miss Donohue. So then I realized that, oh, I actually think I might want to play Div. I (college),” she said.
To boost her chances of playing at the top level of college field hockey she began playing club field hockey in the off-season, and her father took her to tournaments. She got to know UMass Lowell Coach Shannon LeBlanc during that time when she played with her daughter.
Tattrie played for the Raiders, and finished her career in the fall of 2019. She tore her ACL during her junior year of high school, so committing in her second year proved to be good timing.
“Thankfully I did, because that year — my junior year — in the fall of field hockey season I tore my ACL. So, if I hadn’t committed here I don’t know where I would be,” she said.
Her graduation class, 2020, was impacted by the Pandemic, when classes went remote, senior activities were cancelled, and graduation was a drive-through event.
That fall she arrived at UMass Lowell and classes were still remote, but American athletes could stay on campus. The season was moved from the fall of 2020 to the spring of 2021.
For the past few years, college athletes playing five years was not unusual because the NCAA gave players a “COVID Year” to extend their eligibility by a year. Tattrie got a sixth year after redshirting during her first college season.
“Unfortunately, during that spring season, I tore my ACL for the second time,” she said. “So because of that — that was in the spring — I couldn’t play the upcoming fall, so then I had a redshirt year, so I just finished my fifth year. And now I’m on to my sixth year because of my redshirt and my COVID year.
The recovery the second time around was particularly challenging, she said.
“It definitely was not easier. Maybe the rehabbing and everything, but the mental aspect was also really tough for me, because it was during COVID too,” Tattrie said. “So at the same time, everyone is feeling like mentally being isolated and all that stuff, and then having a knee injury on top of that was really hard.”
Tattrie said she felt alone, and decided to take some time off from school. She came back and said that seeking support helped her recover. Now she is involved in an organization that seeks t0 eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health in the student-athlete community, and to equalize the treatment of physical and mental health in athletics.
When asked about how athletes can deal with similar situations, Tattrie recommended asking for help and finding a community.
“I know at our school, we started my freshman year, Morgan’s Message. It’s advocacy for mental health. So I feel like starting that really helped me, and being able to help other people within that community and share my story has really helped me, and I hope it helps others.”
After rehabilitating her injury, Tattrie said she came back stronger, and she wanted to play all of her eligibility. The extra years have allowed her to move on to graduate school.
“I finished my undergrad in criminal justice with double minors in political science and psychology in December,” Tattrie said. “This semester, I just started my master’s program in public administration, so that should be a year long program, so I’ll finish next spring.”
Tattrie credits her time in Watertown for preparing her to play field hockey at the college level.
“I feel like it’s easier here than it was in high school. Honestly, Miss Donahue definitely prepares us for playing at a high level with intense situations,” she said. “Obviously, we had such high expectations being at Watertown, and I feel like I bring that to every practice, every game, always wanting to play my best and just the competitiveness. I feel like that’s something different I bring to the team now. We’re really lucky to have been able to experience that so early, and it feels like it just gave me the stamina to just keep going, especially with my sixth year, because I just feel like I’m still not done yet.”
Tattrie is the last member of the Watertown High School Class of 2020 still playing in college. She recently played against Kennedy when the River Hawks had a spring scrimmage against Providence. Kennedy played four years at Vermont, which is in the same conference as UMass Lowell, and then played a grad year at Providence.
“We scrimmaged Providence (in April), and they didn’t have enough players, and so they asked her to play. So it was cool to be able to play against her,” Tattrie said. “And my Dad was there and said to her, ‘Oh my gosh. I got to see your last college game ever. Your last field hockey game ever.’ So that. Was really cool, like, a full circle moment being able to play against her one final time.”