By the time she reached third grade, Madison Lenig had already developed her field hockey personality.
“I was full of energy. I was sassy,” she said. “I probably was a little bossy, too. I like to take leadership on the field. My friends would tell me that I was bossy, and I would yell at them because I’m really competitive and really want to win.”
Eight years later, as a high school junior, some of those qualities still exist in Lenig, The Morning Call’s 2025 field hockey Player of the Year, the seventh consecutive winner from Emmaus. An NFHCA regional all-American and Temple University recruit, Lenig scored 10 goals and ranked among the nation’s leaders with 35 assists.
Lenig, a defensive midfielder on Emmaus’s 16th state championship team, had played both left and right midfield, but everything fell into place when coach Sue Butz-Stavin moved her to defensive center midfield.
“I feel like I showed that I can take on that role. I was really confident in that spot,” Lenig said. “I got a lot more confident on the field. I communicate a lot. I am talking to everybody for almost the entire game.”
“Madi’s style of play is very simplistic,” Butz-Stavin said. “Her vision, footwork and soft hands create her ability to find a teammate and connect a pass. Defensively, she has patience and knows when to tackle or intercept. She’s a great role model and leads by her actions.”
Her skills mattered on the field this season as Emmaus made another run at the PIAA Class 3A title, its second in three years, fourth in six years and sixth in 11 years. The Green Hornets defeated Villa Maria and Central Bucks West, respectively, in the state semifinal and championship rounds, and neither task was easy.
How did the championship season come together? Pool parties and pasta parties, for starters. Expert coaching, for another.
“It’s a little bit of everything,” Lenig said. “As a team, we are so close. We’ve been close friends since we were in third grade. We were so determined to win the state title. As soon as we got to the state semifinal, our coaches believed in us and said that we had to leave everything out on the field. We went into that game (Villa Maria) so fired up and pumped up to get revenge (because Villa Maria defeated Emmaus in 2023).”
Lenig plans to take some of that energy into teaching. She intends to study elementary education at Temple. At a clinic some time ago, she met goalie coach Janelle Ward and then head coach Michelle Vittese. Emails and follow-up visits ensued, and Lenig eventually committed.
Lenig hopes that the Temple experience leads her into teaching, a profession that runs in the family. One of her four brothers, Jackson Karrat, is in his first year of teaching at Harrison-Morton Middle School in Allentown. Her aunt is a teacher. Her mother, Alicia, is an instructional assistant at Wescosville Elementary; Alicia and Brett Lenig, Madison’s father, own 45 Apparel, a custom apparel company.
Her twin brother Mason earned All-EPC Lehigh Division honors as a football tight end this season.
“All my life, I’ve wanted to be a teacher,” Madison Lenig said. “I remember all my teachers from elementary school compared to all the rest. That’s where I have most of my memories. I like to work with little kids.”
Lenig said that not just playing, but playing in front of parents, grandparents and friends enhances her experience.
“I like playing field hockey, but I also like what comes with it,” she said. “I love my coaches at Emmaus. I like the friends I’ve made. I like when we all come together after big wins and enjoy the moment with each other. I like being able to work hard to win something and having to earn it. … I feel blessed to be on this team. It’s helped with so many things, like college. It’s given me many opportunities and made me the player I am today.”
She is no longer a sassy third grader, but she still uses some of that leftover elementary school energy to help her teammates.
“I’ve toned it down,” she said. “I can be bossy on the field because it’s more of constructive criticism.”
Tim Shoemaker is a freelance writer.