Macy's Wild Ride Continues; Australia Is Her Next Stop

For , her trip to New York City last week to pick up the 2010-2011 Honda Division 2 Athlete of The Year Award was like living a dream.

But when Macy and her mom, Mary Macy, were spotted among a crowd of thousands of sports fans in New York City's Times Square by Laura Gentile, the vice president of ESPNW, and invited to join a celebrity gathering and watch a Women's World Cup soccer game, well, it was almost too much to comprehend.

"It's been unbelievable," said Macy, who graduated from UMass-Lowell in May . "The whole trip to New York was amazing. I just met so many cool people.

"But to get recognized out of this huge crowd in Times Square by this lady from ESPNW, it was so bizarre."

Gentile had been in attendance at last Monday's press conference where the Honda Award winners were announced, and she recognized Macy in Times Square the following day.

"The place was packed with people and we had only been there for about 30 seconds when (Gentile) comes up to me and says 'Are you Sammy Macy? I recognized you from the Honda Awards.'" Macy recalled. "I looked at my Mom and said 'Why would she want to recognize me?'"

It's been that kind of ride, though, for the unassuming and always upbeat 2007 Tewksbury Memorial High graduate. She capped off a record setting senior year at UMass-Lowell last fall  She rewrote UML's record book along the way, scoring 91 goals and assisting on 38 others, shattering the school's scoring records for goals scored and total points.

After that, the awards started rolling in, as  The unthinkable happened on June 15, when Macy learned she had won the prestigious Honda Division II Athlete of the Year Award. The Honda Award is given to the top female collegiate athlete out of a field of 11 nominees, each from different sports.

Macy was honored last week along with Division I winner Maya Moore, the standout University of Connecticut basketball player (recently selected first overall in the 2011 WNBA draft), and record-setting swimmer Kendra Stern, the Division III winner from Amherst College.

Believe it or not, Macy has not yet written the final chapter of her storied field hockey career. She recently agreed to travel to Australia next February to play for the Labrador Hockey Club, in Queensland, on Australia's Gold Coast.

"I'm really not sure what I want to do with my major," said Macy, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. "So it's kind of a once-in-a-lifetime chance to continue my field hockey career."

Macy describes the Labrador club as a "semi-professional" team. She will not receive compensation for playing, but she will stay with a host family in Queensland. Labrador's season begins in March and extends into September.

"Queensland is one of the areas people go to on holiday in Australia," Macy said. "All I've heard about it is that it's a beautiful area."

Macy will sharpen her skills this fall while serving as one of UMass-Lowell head coach Shannon Hlebichuk's paid assistants. Hlebichuk is hoping Macy can pass on some of her scoring skills to the RiverHawks' 2011 team.

"Sammy was amazing in her own right, but she was also part of the most special class I've ever recruited," Hlebichuk said. "Right from the start of her freshman year, Sammy brought something to us we'd never seen before, and that was her prolific scoring ability. No question she's the best attacking player we've ever had come through our program."

Macy credits Hlebichuk and UMass-Lowell assistant coach Chelsey Feole with uncovering the opportunity to play in Australia next year, and encouraging her to take advantage of it.

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do for a career, but my coaches helped me get a chance to continue playing, so I'm going. It's a chance to keep doing what I love and travel the world," Macy said.

While there are no real opportunities to play field hockey professionally anywhere for Macy, playing in Australia is the next best thing, according to Hlebichuk.

"It as high a level as you can play at, other than the Olympics," Hlebichuk said. "For players of Sammy's calibre, it's the next step in continuing her career."

After that, coaching the sport of field hockey could be in Macy's future plans.

"It's definitely something I'm interested in," Macy said. "Helping Shannon this fall will get my foot in the door and keep me in shape for when I leave (for Australia) next February. After that, we'll see where it goes."