Women’s Club Soccer welcomes new additions

Women’s Club Soccer welcomes new additions

Hillsdale women’s club soccer posing during 2024-25 season
Courtesy | Ellie Fromm

When the Hillsdale College women’s club soccer team takes on Michigan State University Sept. 12, it will launch their season. With 28 players, the club will compete with the largest team they have seen yet. 

“This year, compared to other years, we’ve had the most women ever come out,” senior and club president Madison Gilbert said. 

Gilbert said the new players already have good attitudes, want to learn, and are hardworking.

The club will compete in five away games and four home games with their new coach, Sarah Walworth. Walworth is a Hillsdale native who teaches art education at Hillsdale High School.

“I think we were really blessed to find Sarah,” Gilbert said. “She knows what she’s doing, she loves soccer, she’s played most of her life. I think she’s going to be fantastic.”

Walworth also currently coaches the Hillsdale High School girl’s varsity soccer team which she was once a part of. 

“As a fellow woman, I think she will be really inspirational and will definitely push our team to grow,” sophomore and midfielder Lizzy Schueckler said. 

Walworth also shares that she is greatly looking forward to joining the team culture and growing their capacity on the field. 

“I am excited to be a part of the team culture these women are creating and I can’t wait to collaborate in the game of soccer with them,” Walworth said.

This will be the club’s second year in the Women’s Midwest Alliance Soccer Conference within the Great Lakes region and affiliated with NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation region III. 

According to Gilbert, the club switched to the WMASC league because they found more common ground where they could play teams that were better suited for their level.

Last year, the team entered the league with the goal to win at least one game, but with a senior class that has been playing together for a while, the team is aiming for an even greater season. 

As a club sport, team members contribute most of the club’s finances.

“The college was nice enough to increase their funding,” Gilbert said. “However, the silent auction is one of our main fundraisers, and we make around two grand with the help of professors, faculty, and the community.”

As Schueckler explained, these auctions are held every spring, and the team looks forward to hosting one under its new leadership later in the year. 

“These auctions are a really nice way for the community to participate in our team’s growth,” Schueckler said. 

This level of student initiative and self governance is what characterizes the club teams.

“It’s totally student-run,” Gilbert said. “If we didn’t reach out, plan, and schedule the games, it wouldn’t happen.”

Additionally, the players themselves said they love the club’s community.

“The soccer team was my first group of friends,” Schueckler said. “Also, I didn’t have to meet any men for like three months, which was really nice in freshman year.” 

The club continues to provide the women with more than just soccer skills. 

The club will have five away games and four home games.

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