'Taking That Step': The Nicky Sjouken Story

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Nicky Sjouken wasn't even expecting a response to her email.

When Sjouken, a freshman goalkeeper on the club field hockey team at Miami, sent a note to the RedHawks' varsity coaching staff to see if she could practice with their program in the spring of 2023, she didn't think anything would come of it.

However, two days after spring break concluded, head coach Inako Puzo reached out. Nicky Sjouken

"He said, 'Oh, what a surprise. I want to meet up with you,'" recalled Sjouken. "I was like, 'Wait, what?' Because I fully expected to send an email and never hear anything back again. I just wanted to say that I tried."

Sjouken, a native of Doetinchem, Netherlands, grew up playing field hockey since the age of six and has always loved the sport. When her father relocated to the Cincinnati area for work in 2022, Sjouken decided to attend college at Miami University, where she is majoring in psychology.

"We moved two weeks before my freshman year started," Sjouken said. "I wanted to keep playing, but I had no idea how field hockey worked in the U.S."

Sjouken got connected with the club program ('an amazing group of people and so much fun') early in her first semester, but once fall games ended, she found herself with plenty of spare time on her hands.

"I would just go to the gym every day because I had so much time and I didn't know what else to do!", she laughed.

At first, her friends suggested that she get a job, but Sjouken didn't yet have a Social Security number to make that possible. Their next suggestion was more helpful: "You know you can contact the [varsity] coaches, right?"

Sjouken decided she had nothing to lose. She crafted the pivotal email over spring break, introducing herself to the RedHawks' staff and asking if it would be possible to serve as a practice player a couple of times a week.

Her timing couldn't have been any better.

"It was a random situation where we really needed a goalkeeper at that moment," said Puzo. "We had just lost one goalkeeper in January, and Isabelle [Perese] was taking classes that pretty much took her completely out of practice. We were looking like crazy for another goalkeeper…at that point, I just needed someone who had the character and the courage to be in the cage and get some shots in practice."

Puzo and Sjouken agreed to a two-week tryout period, and Sjouken began practicing with the team as often as she could around her class schedule. She was grateful that the players accepted and supported her from the get-go, which helped ease the transition. While focused on making a good first impression after not having played in six months, she was also trying not to get her hopes up for anything long-term.

Nicky Sjouken

That part was easier said than done.

"In the beginning, I thought, 'We'll see – if they don't want me, I'm fine with that,'" said Sjouken. "Then I hit the first practice, and I was like, 'Okay, this is what I want to do!'"

Similar to how someone might pick petals off a daisy ('They love me, they love me not, they love me!'), Sjouken navigated the emotional up-and-down rollercoaster of her temporary arrangement.

"I tried to keep it like, 'Maybe they don't want you, and that's okay if they don't,'" she remembered. "But in the back of my mind, after every single practice, I'd think, 'Okay, but maybe they DO want me, and maybe I'm good enough!'"

No clue was too small to attempt to decipher. The team handed out Miami Field Hockey T-shirts after a practice, and Puzo offered one to Sjouken.

"I was just standing there and all of a sudden, Inako goes, 'Where's Nicky? Do you want a medium or a small?'

"I'm getting a T-shirt? I started thinking, 'He wouldn't give me this if he doesn't want me on the team,'" Sjouken continued. "But maybe he's just giving me this because they have spare T-shirts!"

Sjouken had nothing to worry about. When the tryout period ended, the coaches offered her a spot with the program. Nicky Sjouken

And unsurprisingly, it didn't take her long at all to accept.

Sjouken didn't see the field in her first season as a RedHawk, between dealing with an injury and playing behind Perese, a reigning All-American. However, the starting job was up for grabs in 2024 after Perese graduated, and Sjouken capitalized on the chance to compete.

"A few practices into preseason, I [realized], 'Okay, maybe this shot of me being first goalie's bigger than I thought it was," said Sjouken. "Then a switch just turned, and I was like, 'Now we have to get going.'"

"Last spring…gave her a lot of shots, a lot of practice opportunities and a lot of playing opportunities," Puzo said. "It was there when we saw two things: One, how bad she wants this. And two, that she was able to handle it…

"I think now the biggest difference is her confidence is getting better and better. That's helping her and helping the team, because the team is also getting more and more confident with her."

When the season opener rolled around on Aug. 30, Sjouken was patrolling the cage. And she still is.

The junior has played every minute for the Red and White this season, helping Miami navigate a challenging schedule that's already featured five Big Ten opponents and three nationally-ranked programs. Sjouken is allowing 1.60 goals per contest, a pace which would rank seventh in program history for a career. She owns three shutout victories through 11 matches, and was named MAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 17 after stringing together 130 minutes of action without yielding a goal.

"I know that she worked extremely hard in the last two summers to be in the position that she is right now," said Puzo, who had added club players previously in his tenure but never seen one ascend to make an impact in a starting role like Sjouken has. "I think that she's getting rewarded for that effort, that commitment and that time. We are super happy with her on the field, and we're super happy with her on the team."

As the calendar now turns to October, the RedHawks are chasing yet another MAC title after claiming each of the past 13 (seven regular-season, six tournament). Sjouken and company also have their sights set on the upcoming conference tournament, which will be held Nov. 7-9 in Oxford. The ultimate goal: Return to the NCAA Tournament for an eighth consecutive season and try to make a deep run through the bracket.

Nicky Sjouken

"Every year, the target [on us] gets bigger, and every year, we can be prouder for the fact that we got there," Sjouken said. "Every year is a new year."

But while nothing is guaranteed, if Sjouken's career trajectory to date is any indication, don't be surprised if she and the RedHawks reach their goals –or perhaps even surpass them—with their new No. 1 keeper manning the goal.

"[This all] started off with 'I'm just going to try and see where it ends up'…that email brought me so much and I've learned so much, not only about myself but about the team," Sjouken said.

"Field hockey in general gives you so many lessons. And I'm pretty proud of just taking that step."

Find more Front Row Features at: MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures

Miami Field Hockey will celebrate its 50th varsity season and recognize its alumni on Sunday, Oct. 6 during the Battle of the Bricks against rival Ohio. The game begins at 1 p.m. in Oxford, and admission is free.

'Taking That Step': The Nicky Sjouken Story

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Nicky Sjouken

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