Patriot League Success Stories - Where Are They Now?
Patriot League Success Stories - Where Are They Now? features former Patriot League student-athletes, highlighting both their accomplishments while competing at the Division I collegiate level and their successes since graduation. The Patriot League embodies the scholar-athlete model in all its intercollegiate participants and is proud of the strides made both in the classroom and in competition. The League applauds the accomplishments of its former student-athletes and celebrates their life long achievements. The following feature truly embraces the League's slogan - Today's Scholar-Athletes, Tomorrow's Leaders.
Many of the featured athletes were named either Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Player of the Year or Tournament Most Valuable Player in their respective sport. The accomplishments of the former student-athlete THEN and NOW will be highlighted.
September 17, 2008
Name: Maquel (Salley) Derosby
Institution: College of the Holy Cross
Sport: Field Hockey
Position: Goalkeeper
Graduation Year: 2000
Undergraduate Major: Sociology
THEN:
- Patriot League Academic Honor Roll Member (1999)
- Governor's Award for the Outstanding Maine Student (1997)
- Member of Patriot League Field Hockey Championship Teams (1997 and 1998)
- Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player (1997)
- Second Team All-Patriot League (1999)
- Four-time Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week
- Patriot League goals against average leader (1997 and 1998) and save percentage leader (1997)
- Sixth on Patriot League's career save percentage list and 10th on career shutouts list
- Holy Cross Tri-Captain (1999)
- Holy Cross Most Valuable Player (1999)
NOW:
- RN in Obstetrics at the Family Medicine Institute in Augusta, Maine, affiliated with Maine General Medical Center
- Earned Associates of Science in Nursing, University of Maine at Augusta (2003)
- Married to Alan Derosby, a history teacher at a local high school
- Has a one-year old daughter named Sofia
Thoughts on how your competitive experience as a Patriot League student-athlete helped you achieve professional or personal goals:
The one thing about the Patriot League that anyone who knows college athletics can tell you is that the Patriot League turns out some unbelievable student-athletes. Those student-athletes are dedicated, hard-working, intelligent, competitive individuals that excel in both the classroom and on the field, and take pride in everything they do. Learning how to keep that balance of academics and athletics, and achieve greatness in both, is a valuable skill that has transitioned into balancing work and motherhood to my one-year old daughter.
When I was selecting a college to attend, I knew that I wanted it to have three characteristics: great academics (a pre-med program was my original goal), a sense of community on campus, and a good, competitive field hockey program with a team that felt like family. I knew that my field hockey playing career would probably end after college, and I needed to make sure that I had fun while it lasted! I found what I was looking for immediately during my Holy Cross recruiting trip, and I never looked back.
My freshman year at Holy Cross, I had a tough time finding that academic/athletic balance, and my grades suffered a bit, at least compared to what I was used to! I was finding that it didn't come as easy as it did in high school and I had to work a little harder in the classroom, and focus a little more. Slowly, over the next few years, I was able to find that even ground, and find success on and off the field. I had won several awards, both team and individual, over my collegiate career, but there was one award that I wanted more than anything, and that was the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, for having at least a 3.2 GPA during your competitive season. Many of my teammates were named to it year after year, and yet I just seemed to just miss it every time. That was the achievement that I needed to tell myself that I had the perfect balance between sports and smarts. I was finally named to the Patriot League Honor Roll my senior year, and that is the award I am the most proud.
I am now using that balance in a different way. I have since gone on to become a Registered Nurse and am now mother. I work full time, and as any new mother would, I try to get as much time to play with, nurture, and love my daughter as I possibly can. I strive to be the best nurse that I can be during the day and the best mother that I can be at home, so that I can instill in my daughter the same values that were instilled in me growing up. I carried those values through to college, and that led me to the Patriot League. I can not even say how lucky I am to have found my "home" there.
