Cleats digging in and out of the grass, junior Chase Count zooms down the field as he is going for the ball. Looking up and seeing the blur of his family in the stands, he knows he has something to be playing for. Count has been playing soccer for as long as he can remember, and stepping out under the lights at HSE, just like his sister did, is something he looks forward to.

“[My sisters] kept me playing because there have been times where I wanted to quit,” Count said. “But I wanted to keep playing because both of my older sisters did.”

The idea of ‘following in someone’s footsteps’ in sports always brings another level of expectation from peers and coaches, but that does not seem to scare Count. His older sister, Carly Count, played soccer at HSE for all four years of high school, and recently graduated in May of 2018. She is now attending Indiana University.

“The primary difference is that Chase had an expectation of what it took to be an HSE athlete after watching Carly’s experience with the girl’s program,” said Count’s mother, Erin. “He also had more familiarity with the upperclassmen when he entered the HSE soccer program because many of the seniors were friends of Carly’s.”

The embracement of the upperclassmen was something that Count was a huge fan of, and it was like a second home for him. The fact that everyone already knew who he was, made him more comfortable.

“We love being a part of HSE sports and having the opportunity of watching our kids and their teammates develop as individuals and as teammates,” said Erin. “High school sports offer kids and parents to be a part of something bigger and to form a unique bond as we all support the team.”

As for the upcoming 2020 season, Count’s senior season, he has one thing on mind. Winning a state championship. This was something Count’s sister was never able to accomplish at her time at HSE. But Count knows, he has his family behind him. Story by Lee Cook