Glenelg seniors Brinkley Eyre and Sarah Walker have experienced many triumphs in their field hockey careers, including winning three straight Class 2A state championships. However, prior to this season, Eyre and Walker shared a once-in-a-lifetime experience with Warhawks Field Hockey Club.

Eyre, Walker and her younger sister, Meghan, and Marriotts Ridge sophomore Mackenzie Tasch were four of 21 girls who traveled to the Netherlands for eight days this summer with a team led by Marriotts Ridge varsity coach Molly Milani and Bryn Mawr coach Candice Russ.

Planning began in summer 2023 when Russ and Milani explored the potential idea to take the team overseas. They gauged interest within the team and everyone seemed excited about the opportunity. The team worked with Schoolfundr to raise money as some players funded their entire trip and others fundraised smaller amounts. Of the 21 girls, 10 came without a parent.

Across the eight days, the Warhawks played three games against local high school-aged teams and participated in two clinics run by professional players and coaches.

“I just remember being really excited because I feel like everyone always talks about field hockey in the Netherlands,” Sarah Walker said. “It’s super big there, but it’s not really big here. So, I was just really excited to go and play against teams that basically dedicate their entire lives to field hockey and see how that differed from how we play hockey here versus how they play there.”

The coaches encouraged the girls to go into it with an open mind. Eyre and Walker did not know what to expect. However, they were not expecting to have the success they had. The Warhawks won their first two games and battled to a hard-fought 1-1 tie in the third.

Those strong performances gave the group collective confidence as they returned to the United States. Eyre and Walker enjoyed playing the best of the best and appreciated the high-intensity moments that allowed them to grow as players.

“I think we all came into it not expecting to perform at that high level,” Milani said. “It was really fun to see that we have players who are comparable with some of the best athletes in the world. It was fun to see the girls click. It was a group of people who do not always play together. But at the end of the trip, you would have no idea that some of the girls had never met before the trip. I think it brought the players together in a way that would not have been possible without this special opportunity.”

Although proud of their in-game performances, many of their most valuable takeaways came from the clinics. The Dutch coaches focused heavily on three-on-one and three-on-two situations, emphasizing the importance of playing with deception, which differs from America. Playing field hockey all of their lives, Walker and Eyre have listened to many of the same coaching points ad nauseam. However, the Dutch coaches and players offered different perspectives to bring back home.

“Every time we would come out on the field and do a drill, we would come back to meet after five minutes, and they always had something different to say,” Eyre said. “Something that we can improve or work on, or something that we can implement, which I thought was interesting. They have different coaching styles and just a different perspective on things.”

The players enjoyed free time exploring different historical sites and statues, with everyone also taking a day trip to Belgium. The post-match meals introduced new cultural perspectives and how the two groups live drastically different lives despite being similar in age.

All three Dutch teams asked similar questions, curious about Crumbl Cookies and Raising Cane’s. A few girls even showed videos of them trying to make Crumbl cookies. The Dutch athletes also inquired about lockers in school, cheerleaders and football teams, American high school experiences they don’t have.

Another common conversation centered around transportation. The Dutch girls rode bikes to practices and games, explaining how they’d often ride a bike 45 minutes to a friend’s house, wishing they had driver’s licenses.

“It was just really cool to see them trying to implement things we do at home into their lives,” Walker said. “They also asked us a lot about where we shop, how we get stuff. It just seems like it’s a completely different world, yet we’re all the same people. We just compared our lifestyles and our playstyles all the time. As much as we were trying to get to know how they played, they were taking in how we played also.”

Milani and Russ hope to make this international trip a yearly tradition. The club shared a daily Instagram takeover, generating excitement in the U.S. Through those videos and word of mouth, there’s eagerness for future trips. Milani and Russ are creating their bucket list destinations for future trips with strong field hockey a prerequisite.

“I think some of the younger girls will want that opportunity to be leaders if they’re lucky enough to go a second time,” Milani said. “I think they would love to have the opportunity to be that older player for someone else and our players coming up. I know a lot of the freshmen at Glenelg are hoping to come in on this next trip. I think they really looked at what Brinkley and Sarah did and want to have a similar experience.”