With a stick in her hand, very few can mess with Claire Dailey (‘26). No, Dailey is not a violent force in combat, instead, she is a dominant force on the lacrosse field. With a High School OT ranking of 10th best team in the entire state, the Green Hope women’s lacrosse team has benefited significantly from Dailey’s productivity on the field. Despite being an underclassmen, Dailey has blossomed throughout her lacrosse career into one of the most successful attackers Green Hope’s squad features this year.
Claire Dailey sat down with the GHFalcon and answered some questions about her lacrosse journey, and the realities of varsity lacrosse for underclassmen.
What prompted an interest in lacrosse?
Dailey was surrounded by lacrosse players growing up. She credits her initial interest in lacrosse to “a close neighbor” who currently plays lacrosse at Penn State. “She really got me into it and watching her was enjoyable.” This interest stimulated Dailey’s commitment to lacrosse, playing “in a rec league” for multiple years before transitioning to travel lacrosse.
What were some expectations when entering high school in terms of athletics?
Dailey had very little school lacrosse experience entering high school, because there was no middle school lacrosse team at Davis Drive. However, Dailey had been playing travel lacrosse for multiple years so the transition to high school posed very few challenges. Dailey elaborated, “it wasn’t that hard because it wasn’t a big adjustment. I felt like I fit in well with the team. ”
What was different in varsity lacrosse in comparison to travel or club lacrosse?
For Dailey, playing club lacrosse made the transition much easier to high school than if she had stayed in a recreational league. “[Starting high school lacrosse] was kind of the same as what I was used to on my travel team.” She continued, “I also knew a lot of the girls on the Green Hope team already from playing on the travel team, so it helped me a lot.” Not everything was the same for Dailey however, as she emphasized, “The level of play in high school is even higher than on my travel lacrosse team. I think because playing against other high schools makes it more competitive.”
What’s the best part about being on varsity as an underclassman?
Most underclassmen believe that the direct mentorship that accompanies a varsity spot is one of the best aspects of being a freshman or sophomore on varsity, and Dailey is no different. As she’s progressed throughout her first two years in high school, Dailey feels “learning from the older girls really helps” both on and off the field. “We all get along really well… the older kids are willing to help.” Dailey has called upon role models both from within and outside of Green Hope throughout her bright, young career to develop as a lacrosse player; being able to look up to future collegiate athletes each year helps push herself to become better, chasing her own dream of “playing lacrosse in college one day”.
What should be anticipated for the next few years in Green Hope women’s lacrosse?
With conference play just beginning, Dailey comments on the team’s high ranking, “With such a high rank we can go pretty far in the state playoffs… we should be really good this year but we lose a lot of good seniors after this season.” With high expectations on the team, Dailey places standards on her own performance, “Since I want to play in college I try to work towards that and get better every game… I like to assist goals and want to continue doing that to help our team win.” Even with the loss of eight seniors, some of which already committed to quality collegiate programs, Dailey’s bright future can catalyze success for the women’s lacrosse team going forward.
As just a sophomore, Dailey has an already decorated stat sheet. In just her first five appearances, Dailey has scored 6 goals and racked up 6 assists – yielding an average points per game of 2.4. Her desire to continue this success and build upon it generates immense hope for not just the current season, but for future seasons of Green Hope women’s lacrosse.
