Watching her mom play field hockey as a child, Catalina Mendez knew the sport would become her home.
Mendez, a 22-year-old UF business administration senior, has played field hockey recreationally since age 5. She started playing competitively at 12, which deepened her passion for the sport and its camaraderie, she said.
When she started competing at the U14 level, she joined Doral Field Hockey in Doral, just west of Miami, which is advertised as the top field hockey destination in South Florida. During her time at the club, she continued to learn and improve her craft, traveling to competitions as far as Virginia and Delaware, and even playing in the Disney Field Hockey Showcase.
Her eagerness to improve herself and be open to various styles of coaching helped her stand out, said Gabriela Cappanera, Mendez’s coach and owner of Doral Field Hockey.
“When you have a player that is coachable, you know it's a player who is going to succeed,” she said.
Field hockey runs in Mendez’s blood. Her mother, Lujan Soler, played field hockey in Argentina for Colegio Labardén.
At 27 years old, Soler moved to the U.S. and continued to play field hockey, joining many other Argentine and South American players as the sport grew in Miami, Mendez said.
When Mendez left for college at UF, she knew she wanted to continue her mother’s legacy.
There, she found UF Club Field Hockey and merged her passion for the sport with her professional aspirations in the business world. Acting as secretary her sophomore year, co-president her junior year and president her senior year, she learned sports were more than just an activity — they were a stepping stone into opportunity.
“Sports really just gave me everything that I have now," Mendez said. “It opened my eyes to the fact that I am interested in pursuing a career in sports and making an impact in sports through a business aspect.”
Mendez has learned the ins and outs of managing a sports club from a business perspective over the past two years, she said, from scheduling tournaments to overseeing the budget to making decisions about the team’s roster.
The lessons Mendez learned on the field also translated to her everyday life.
“She is exactly the same person on and off the field,” Cappanera said. “She was generous, she was talkative. She related very well to the players that had already a lot of experience, but she was always there to receive and welcome the new players.”
Mendez’s efforts have expanded the club’s reach, said Lane Goodwin, the assistant director of sport programs at UF RecSports.
“It’s starting to move from a new club to an even more established club,” Goodwin said. “I think a lot of that has been through her leadership, staying on top of things with the club and continuing to push them in a positive direction.”
For Mendez, field hockey is not only good exercise, but also a way to connect the masses.
“I just love the team dynamic of it, the discipline that it gives you and also that it promotes healthy living,” Mendez said. “I want to be part of that, make an impact on people's wellness and also on sports in general.”
Mendez now has one main goal for the club: lead the team to nationals for the second time in their program’s history. More personally, she hopes to continue playing and cultivating passion for the sport to guide in her career.
Contact Victoria Riccobono at vriccobono@alligator.org. Follow her on X @vickyriccobono.
Póngase en contacto con Victoria Riccobono en vriccobono@alligator.org. Síguela en X @vickyriccobono.
Victoria is a junior sports journalism student and an El Caimán reporter in her first semester with The Alligator. In her spare time, she enjoys sports photography, reading, spending time with her friends and family, and trying new restaurants.
