According to head coach Elissa Daniel, the Clay City girls golf team has the largest number of student-athletes this fall for the first time in a long time, giving her the opportunity to use the internal competition at games and practices to put the top five on the course on any given night.

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After the final results of last year’s girls high school golf tournament were announced, Clay City head coach Elissa Daniel said she was disappointed with her group’s season.

She pointed out that the Lady Eels need to put in more work in the offseason and carry that into the 2024 season. And in the first few weeks of training, she saw that.

Daniel credited the leadership of the returning group of seniors – seniors Marley Blankenship, Addi Schopmeyer and Ella James and junior Libby Zurcher – for steering the team in the right direction. The longtime head coach believes this could be a successful season for the team in purple.

“I feel like the older players are guiding the younger girls and helping them. The top five on our team really seem to know what I want and what I expect from them. We just try to get the message across to them that we have a goal when we’re out here practicing,” Daniel said. “Obviously, we always have a goal to win the SWIAC. And even though we have four new players, this is the first time I’ve ever had to teach anyone how to golf. We may not have the most experience yet, but I don’t have to show anyone how to hold a club, so I think that should help.”

Clay City added junior players Libby Color, sophomores Emma Gibbs and Ashley Harrison, and freshmen Emily Swearingen and Kailyn Tucker to the team this year, giving the Eels more depth than they have had in quite some time.

This will involve internal competition to help bring the best team onto the pitch while giving training sessions even more meaning than ever before.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the number of girls that came out. We got two freshmen and two sophomores, including Ashley Harrison, whose sister was in my very first group, so that’s cool,” Daniel said. “We have a strong bench this year. So I told them we’re going to take it week by week to see who plays. So far I’ve seen some really good shots from the new girls. That’s promising. I hope that continues and we just keep getting better.”

And while Daniel admitted that winning is of utmost importance to the team, as a student-athlete, they are primarily concerned with being role models and behaving well in sportsmanship. Daniel knows that her team will fulfill the second part of the equation, no matter what the final score is on any given night.

“They’re Clay City girls. They’re kind to everyone and they’re leaders – and that’s not just the older ones – who check in with everyone and remind everyone what to do and how to do it. I couldn’t be at a better school. I’ve been there for almost 30 years and that’s something that always stands out and I’ve seen it time and time again,” Daniel said. “That’s very important.”