Field Hockey: Seeing triple- Valerio sisters helping Garnet Valley

Practice had ended, but the Valerio triplets weren’t leaving.

They stood together in a parking lot at Garnet Valley last Friday, as the summer sun beamed down onto the concrete. Nearby, attendants prepared for the cars that would file in for the football team’s home opener against Upper Darby. Band members played their instruments in the adjacent lot, creating a drumming rhythm that reverberated throughout the complex.

Madison, Hailey, and Taylor Valerio smiled widely while carrying equipment after their afternoon field hockey practice. They soon walked over to the football stadium, where their father, former Kansas City Chiefs lineman Joe Valerio, has served as the Jaguars’ offensive-line coach for nearly a decade.

When they were as young as 10, the girls used to stand on the field with their dad as “aquatic engineers,” providing water for players during games. Now, they go to cheer on their father and classmates.

Joe Valerio will miss these Fridays.

“I have a lot of fond memories with my kids as far as laughing with them on the sidelines and . . . experiencing Garnet Valley in its whole,” he said.

His three daughters, who are early in their senior season with the Garnet Valley field hockey program, might soon leave behind an empty nest in the Valerio household. Madison has committed to play lacrosse at Franklin & Marshall, and Hailey will play field hockey at Dartmouth. Taylor, who is working to overcome a knee injury, remains undecided.

The players said the feeling of living apart from each other is bittersweet. They remain thankful, however, at how far they’ve come.

The three were born three months premature, and doctors said there was only a 20 percent chance that all the triplets would survive. But Madison, Hailey, and Taylor Valerio overcame the odds – and not a day goes by, they say, when that 20 percent prognosis doesn’t cross their minds.

“It’s crazy,” Taylor Valerio said. “With prematurity, it’s so common to have ongoing problems when you grow older. Fortunately, we’ve escaped many of the major problems. It’s a blessing that we’re this far.

“That we’re able to do athletics at all is amazing,” she added. “We’re very lucky.”
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