Kelsey Gradwohl has made a lot of field hockey-related decisions in her young life. Some more difficult than others.

She had no reservations with ending her spring soccer commitments to devote more time to her favorite sport back in seventh grade. But choosing between playing on the junior varsity or varsity level as a freshman at Huron High School wasn’t as easy as it might seem.

“When I first got the news that I would make varsity as a freshman, I was trying to decide whether I would say ‘yes,’ or try to play JV for a year because of playing time,” she said.

Making the decision harder was the fact that Gradwohl couldn’t get any parental advice on the matter.

“My parents just happened to be in the Grand Canyon, where they got no cell phone reception, and (the coaches) needed an answer about whether I would join varsity or not,” Gradwohl recalls. “So, basically, my sister was there for me the entire time.”

Alex Gradwohl, a senior when Kelsey was a freshman, talked her through the decision.

“I swear, we talked for hours over a couple of days about it and how it would affect my academic life,” Gradwohl says. “She was so supportive, when I finally decided to join (varsity).”

Gradwohl feels that decision three seasons ago helped her grow into the player she is now. An All-State player as a sophomore and junior, and the leading goal scorer on Huron’s state championship team, Gradwohl is the 2010 AnnArbor.com Washtenaw County Field Hockey Player of the Year.

The first two years of Gradwohl’s high school career ended with runner-up finishes to Pioneer in the state final. This year, the River Rats finally got the best of their cross-town rivals.

Gradwohl, who had 11 goals and seven assists on the season, said improved team unity helped Huron get over the hump.

“This year, we were really unified, and we all really wanted it,” Gradwohl says. “Not that we didn’t want it the past years, but I think what made it different was that everyone on the team was extremely committed to this common goal.”

Huron coach Tia Sutton says she can’t take credit for Gradwohl’s success. Her strength on the field, Sutton says, seems more like a honed instinct than anything she’s learned from any coach.

“Kelsey has a great hockey sense,” Sutton said. “She knows where to be, where to put the ball. That’s something that’s hard to coach.”

But don’t take that to mean Gradwohl is uncoachable.

“Kelsey is a great player to coach,” Sutton says. “If girls are sort of slacking off at practice, she’ll remind people to keep working hard.”

That makes it understandable that Gradwohl would conduct herself like a coach on the field.

“I’m out there just yelling at them, and I feel really bad that I’m being mean, and I apologize afterwards if it sounds rude,” she says. “But it’s important.”

Gradwohl now plays central midfielder - she used to play up top, as a forward - to best utilize her on-field coaching ability.

“She made a lot of plays happen,” Sutton says. “Even if she didn’t put the final goal in, a lot of times it was her assist or a pass that she started which led to a goal. She is able to make things happen on the field.”

To Gradwohl, that doesn’t always mean getting on the score sheet. The girl who three years ago wasn’t sure if she wanted to be on the varsity team now does everything she can for it.

“The team has become really important to me,” she says. “I’m thinking about how to get the ball in the net. But, more importantly, how our team can get the ball in the net.”