Glenbrook North trio to represent USA in field hockey at 4-Nations Tournament
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Glenbrook North's Reese Anetsberger will travel for the second time as a member of Team USA's Under-16 Women's National Team. Courtesy of STLdigital
A Glenbrook North trio is set to play the most challenging field hockey of the girls' young careers.
Making the cut after three separate training camps, Spartans sophomore Reese Anetsberger and the Beach sisters, freshman Ella and junior Madison, are on USA Field Hockey women's junior national teams that will compete in April against top European counterparts.
Anetsberger and Ella Beach will travel to Valkenswaaard, The Netherlands, members of the Under-16 team headed for the 4-Nations Tournament, April 7-10. They'll play six matches against opponents that include the U15 teams from Belgium, France and The Netherlands.
Madison Beach, already committed to Duke University for field hockey, is on the U18 Women's National Team whose 2023 Europe Tour offers matches in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, April 3-6.
"It's very exciting, and I'm very proud to be able to play with the Junior National Team," said Madison Beach, a center midfielder voted as the 2022 player of the year by the Illinois High School Field Hockey Coaches Association.
She scored 38 goals with 28 assists in 22 games to lead the Glenbrook South co-op team to second place behind New Trier in the 2022 state playoffs. Anetsberger and Ella Beach also were first-team all-state selections, high school coach Tom Rosenbaum said.
The co-op, in the process of being rebranded as "Glenbrook," Rosenbaum said, includes players from both Glenbrook High School District 225 schools.
"I'm also proud to represent my country and proud of myself, too, with all the hard work and time I've put into getting into shape and making sure my skills are sharp and ready to go," Madison Beach said. "And it's paying off now."
New Trier's Princeton-bound junior Izzy Morgan made the U18 team as a reserve but will not travel to Europe. Same with Trevians freshman Lilly Cimaroli on the U16 squad.
Ella Beach made the larger U16 squad last year, but was not part of the final team that visited Vancouver in May 2022 and outscored Canada 29-2 over four games.
Anetsberger, a forward and midfielder who scored 29 goals with 23 assists last fall in high school, was on that U16 team.
"That was very cool," she said. "This is a big deal. This is very exciting to make it a second year in a row."
In The Netherlands, the US Junior Nationals will be the underdog.
"It'll be a good challenge for our team," Anetsberger said. "It'll be really cool to learn how they play and their style of field hockey, and bring it back home and see what we can teach to our club teams and high school teams, new skills and new ways to play."
Anetsberger has been playing field hockey since she was 8 or 9. The Beach sisters picked up sticks years earlier. In the wings is their sister Bridget Beach, a sixth-grader at Northbrook Junior High.
Ella Beach, a midfielder, scored 26 goals with 21 assists in the 2022 high school season. She was overjoyed to make the final U16 travel team, but unlike her older sister, not particularly surprised.
Ella looks forward to the European style, but the most compelling thing to her about the trip is personal.
"Just getting closer with my teammates," she said. "A lot of these girls I'll see lot in college if I play there, and maybe in the Olympics if I play there."
She is not just blowing smoke.
The Beach sisters started playing field hockey at age 4, inspired by their mother, Katie, a legend in the sport.
Katie Beach grew up in Pennsylvania, where field hockey is embedded. She is the owner and director of the Windy City Field Hockey club, but more than that has 180 international caps, or game appearances, including the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, two Pan American Games and two World Cups. Katie Beach is in four halls of fame, including those of the University of Maryland and the United States Field Hockey Assocation.
"I call it hockey, but it's field hockey," said Katie Beach, who played against U16 Women's National Coach Tamara Durante when Durante was on Canada's senior women's team.
"They'll get a taste of something different by going to Europe this year," Katie Beach said. "It's said Pennsylvania is the hotbed of hockey here, and in comparison Europe -- specifically The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, England -- is the hotbed of hockey in the world."
Madison Beach likes the challenge.
"I think I'll learn new ways of playing and also new strategies in certain situations, when we're down, when we're up," she said. "Playing at a high competitive level also is going to be a new thing for me because of how the international game is that much faster than club, so I think we'll be able to play under pressure -- but I like fast pressure."
This pressure is like a cherry on top of being selected for their national teams. Anetsberger, Ella Beach and Madison Beach have that certain something special.
"The three of them, their field hockey IQ is off the charts," Rosenbaum said. "They use their ability to make everyone around them better. They lead by example and bring all the other people around them up to their level."
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