Then came 2020, an incredible opponent who reigned high school state champion across the country. Clearview managed to make it through most of the season – “I always said that any day we have a stick in our hands is a good day,” says Evan – overcoming blockages and injuries and covid scares and all the way. But in November, the sectional championship game was cancelled, and the 2020 season came to an abrupt end.
Nine months later, in mid-August, the team gathered for another title race. It started with trial. The players looked nervous but they were relieved to return to the old routine. As practice begins, after a mile-long warm-up around the field, the sight and sound of field-hockey balls being dropped from a large cooler can be taken as a hope-filled call to action . .