Calculated effort
Danville’s lone senior starter the voice of experience on girls soccer squad
By Mike Beas
Danville’s girls soccer team consists mostly of underclassmen, which makes the Warriors’ lone senior starter kind of, well, stand out.
Not that defender Hailey York necessarily minds.
The responsibilities that come along with being a leader have helped York grow in ways she might not have thought possible while playing for the Warriors squads earlier in her career.
“I really had to take over the leadership position for us this year. It takes work,” said York, one of her team’s three 12th graders, along with backups Emily Trambaugh, a forward, and midfielder Audrey O’Neal. “I’m more of an introvert, but I’ve been doing it with grace.”
York aspires to one day work as a statistician, though she admits her wanting to major in mathematics in college could take her career in any number of directions. She carries a 3.94 grade-point average at Danville, ranking 19th in her class academically.
Her calculated approach to life on the pitch helped earn her second-team All-Sagamore Conference status at the end of the 2019 season. The Warriors claimed the league title with a spotless 7-0 record and finished 10-6-1 overall, losing to Greencastle, 1-0, in the first round of the Class 2A Crawfordsville sectional.
Danville coach Sean Adams graduated a surplus of talent from that team but is glad York is among his returnees.
“For Hailey, it’s more about the positive mindset,” said Adams. “We have two freshmen and a sophomore on the backline with her, so it’s about keeping them positive. Hailey has been there long enough, and that makes her credible with the younger kids. That onfield leadership is pretty important.”
York did a Q&A with ICON:
Q: How long have you been playing soccer, and what was it that got you interested in the sport?
A: I was in third grade, and I think my parents (Shane and Jennifer) got me and my brother (Brady) to go in that direction. I’m not the most athletic person in the world, so it’s gotten me out of my comfort zone and broadened my social circle.
Q: What responsibilities go along with being your team’s only senior starter?
A: I feel as if I have eyes on me all of the time. On the field, at school and outside of school, too. I looked to that guidance when I was younger from my older teammates.
Q: What are your plans after high school?
A: I really want to go to Rose-Hulman and major in mathematics and computational science. The small, private-school setting would be really, really good for me. My grandpa (Robert York) was an IRS agent, and before he passed away I would bring my AP stats homework to him so that he could help me. It was more of a bonding thing.
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