Kaitlyn Kupiec
Ali Moore ’28 grew up in Palm Beach, Fla., where winter meant beach weather, not ice time.
She knew little about hockey beyond what she picked up from a friend who follows the New York Rangers. That changed when she arrived on campus and roomed with a varsity player, and started watching preseason games out of curiosity.
That curiosity soon turned into something more. Moore decided to give the sport a try, joining Berkshire’s Girls Thirds Hockey team despite never having skated before. She did not expect to end up in the crease.
“I did not start out as a goalie,” Moore said. “I was playing defense with my friends. We didn’t have a goalie last year, and they asked if anyone wanted to try it. I was like, ‘I guess I’ll try.’ And then my teammates told me, ‘You’re good—you should stay.’”
Like many players on the girls thirds hockey team, Moore was stepping into a sport that can feel intimidating at first. On thirds, positions are not permanent, and players are encouraged to try whatever role the team needs.
At Berkshire, a school known for its varsity hockey tradition, thirds expands access to the sport, ensuring that more students can experience the confidence, connection, and community that come from being part of a team.
“You’re all there for each other,” Moore said. “You can have a real connection with your teammates. It doesn’t have to be on varsity or junior varsity. Everyone is really close, and you don’t even have to know the rules or how to skate to join the team.”
Head coach Andrea Bowler, now in her 27th year at Berkshire and her fourth with the thirds program, said the team is designed to give players room to grow, especially those who are brand new to skating.
Ali Moore '28, who grew up in Palm Beach, Fla., guards the crease for Girls Thirds Hockey after picking up the sport for the first time at Berkshire.
“Particularly a lot of our freshmen are very, very new to skating,” Bowler said. “What’s so fun is seeing how drastic the improvement is from the first day to now.”
Earlier this season, the Bears dropped a narrow 2-1 decision to Millbrook’s JV team in what Bowler described as one of the most fun games of the year.
Short on players, Berkshire rotated just three defensemen—Anabel Vilas ’28, Esmé Goodman ’28, and Juliana Trotto ’29—who Bowler said, “were amazing.” Carson Phipps ’29 scored the team’s lone goal, but the score was not what stood out the most.
Even in a loss, the game showed what thirds hockey is about: stepping up when needed, trying new roles, and competing together.
“At the beginning of the season, there’s a lot of focus on skating,” Bowler said. “It gets progressively more fun as time goes on. In the past, we’ve only had about four games a year. This season we have seven. I don’t think it really matters to the players if we win or lose. Just being out there and competing is the fun part.”
For away games, the team rides in the school’s minibuses. After late games, they often stop for pizza together, giving players a chance to relax and bond off the ice.
Assistant coach Megan Olszewski, a 2024 graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst who also coaches Girls Varsity Soccer and played four years of high school hockey, sees that growth firsthand. After tearing her ACL as a college athlete, she transitioned into coaching and now helps guide students through the challenges of learning a new sport.
“The best part about coaching thirds hockey is seeing the environment from the beginning of the year to the end of the year,” Olszewski said. “The players are always out on the ice wanting to work on their slap shots. They want to skate against me, and we have a little back and forth, even if they think they can outskate me. The most important thing is just putting myself in a position for them to see me as a resource.”
That approach shows up in every practice and game. Music plays during drills, teammates cheer from the bench, and when someone slips or fumbles a play, the group laughs together instead of getting frustrated.
Head coach Andrea Bowler (left), in her 27th year at Berkshire, and assistant coach Megan Olszewski (right) guide Girls Thirds Hockey from the bench.
For Moore and her teammates, that culture has made a noticeable difference. Freshmen and sophomores who began the season unsure of skating or the rules, have grown more confident with every shift.
“It’s really just a great environment,” Moore said. “You need a team where you feel at home. If you can’t click with the people, you’re not going to have fun. We want to make sure everyone knows they can come to us.”
That sense of belonging is exactly why Bowler believes thirds programs are essential, even as some peer schools scale back similar teams.
“For most students, this is the last time in their lives they’ll play on a sports team,” Bowler said. “Competing against other schools and that tradition of parents coming to watch their child’s games on Wednesday and Saturday is really what boarding school sports are all about.”
With a 3-2 record and one game left in the season, Berkshire’s Girls Thirds Hockey team has found its rhythm. For a student from Florida who once knew little about hockey, the team is more than a sport. It is a community, a place to make friends, and sometimes even a stage to dance in the crease.