Every freshman athlete dreams of one thing when entering high school: to play a varsity sport. Sophomore Clara Thibault became a member of three varsity sports teams as a freshman and is on her way to earning 12 varsity letters by the time she graduates.
Thibault began playing lacrosse and ice hockey in 1st grade and only later picked up field hockey in high school.
Girls varsity field hockey coach Emily Hunt believes Thibault embodies what it means to be a top athlete with a diverse skill set.
“Clara is the total package when it comes to an athlete because she’s very physically gifted. She’s fast, strong, has hand eye coordination, field sense, all that stuff,” Hunt said. “The physical abilities are awesome but then I think her mental toughness even as a younger athlete really comes through.”
Thibault has learned the large role that team bonding plays, whether it be before or after games, on the bus or in the locker room.
“For ice hockey most of our practices are only an hour to an hour and a half, but you spend so much more time in the locker room with people or out of the rink so that’s a big part of team bonding and you actually get to know people better,” Thibault said. “Lacrosse, I just love that sport. It’s so fun to play. For every sport, there is always energy on the bus rides. ”
Like many athletes, Thibault uses practice as a break from the constant hustle and bustle of high school life. She also takes advantage of this time to make new connections with teammates.
“Sports gets my energy up I guess and I have more motivation sometimes to do some work when I get home or something like that. It’s also just being with friends after school. It’s a way to just meet more people,” Thibault said.
Junior Mia Dicarlo has played field hockey with Thibault for two years and admires her for her skill in all areas of the field.
“She can see the whole field and she has to connect things. Obviously, in the midfield you’re going to play defense and you’re going to play offense. But she takes that a step further,” Dicarlo said. “She’s just insane at shooting and is literally an all around player and she’s always running back on defense.”
For Thibault, playing three varsity sports year-round brings many challenges as it can feel like there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done.
“Keeping up with homework if I don’t have that much time after school or just getting enough sleep and not being exhausted a lot of the time can be hard,” Thibault said.
Thibault’s well-roundedness has proven to be useful. According to Dicarlo, recalls her versatility came into play in a way that was unconventional for her role as a midfielder.
“She’s so good at defense that partway through the season we convinced our coach to put her on corners as one of the defensive players,” Dicarlo said. “So she played defense on corners. Then she’s also on the offensive corners.”
According to Hunt, while Thibault may not be the loudest player she lets her playing do the talking.
“She’s pretty quiet and soft spoken,” Hunt said. “But then when she’s on the field she’s just the best kind of beast.”
