After taking her stand, UConn’s Hill aims for a title
In more ways than one, Rachel Hill has been a forerunner for major league sports in 2020.
The two-time UConn All-American was traded from the Orlando Pride to the Chicago Red Stars while she was working in Baltimore at the NWSL college draft in January. So first, we have the shocked and accepting Hill.
Along with the rest of women’s soccer in Utah, Hill was part of the first professional league to climb into a bubble during the COVID-19 pandemic to live the life of confinement. So second, we have the quarantined and adjusting Hill. stand.
And now, after scoring a goal in the 3-2 Challenge Cup semifinal victory over Sky Blue, Rachel Hill has an opportunity to become part of the first Red Stars championship. In a weekend chock full of opening events, the NWSL reaches its climax Sunday afternoon with Chicago facing the Houston Dash.
“Gosh, it’s strange,” Hill said. “The buildup to it has been short. We usually have a seven-month season building up to the playoffs. For it to come around so fast — Chicago made it to the finals last year and to get back so quickly, nobody was really expecting that. Chicago always has been successful, makes the playoffs, just hasn’t been able to finish it off. To do it with a championship would be amazing.”
Until the semis, Chicago had scored only two goals in regulation time, so Hill said she felt a great sense of relief when she found the back of the net. Yet let’s put it this way: If it goes to penalty kicks in a 0-0 game like it did in the quarterfinal victory over OL Reign, you’ve got to like the Red Stars’ chances. They’ve got Seymour’s Alyssa Naeher — who backstopped the USA
to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup — in goal.
“Alyssa is incredible,” said Hill, who scored on her quarterfinal penalty kick. “It’s funny. During the game, I’m usually higher up the field and sometimes can’t be involved in helping defend. I’ll see this shot go off and I’m like, ‘Oh, geez,’ and suddenly she appears out of nowhere with this miraculous save.”
Hill, who grew up in New Hampshire and is seven years younger, didn’t know the 32-year-old Naeher before going to the Red Stars.
“I had no idea what Alyssa was like and what to expect from her,” Hill said. “It’s interesting; she is pretty quiet, keeping to herself, but she is so focused and driven and will do whatever the team needs behind the scenes, which I don’t think a lot of people get to see.
“The world didn’t know what to expect of her last year and she played up to every expectation. She did such a huge job at the World Cup.”
From Orlando dropping out before the start of the four-game preliminary round when several players tested COVID-positive, to the fears of catching the disease, to constant testing and protocols, not to mention hotel isolation — OL Reign’s Bethany Balcer had a panic attack during one game — the mental toll of the past month is not to be dismissed.
“I know girls who have gone to World Cups have experienced something similar,” Hill said, “but it’s totally different than anything I’ve ever been in. Being confined to one place is tough. Seeing the NBA at the Disney setting, it looks like they have a little more freedom than we do, a little more they have access to. The hotel, walking around the hotel parking lot and the fields we’re training really is the only places we can go.”
There have been other challenges. No team arrived 100 percent game-fit and match-ready. There’s the altitude. That played a big factor in the first few games. Hill said it took close to two weeks to fully acclimate to playing at 4,225 feet. There also was plenty of 90-degree heat exacerbated by all games until the semis being played on artificial turf.
“Just what we wanted,” Hill said, jokingly.
Although she had played three years in Orlando and loved it, a new team, a new coach, different players, different tactics gave her a chance to grow as a player and person.
Hill had played the previous two years following the NWSL seasons in Perth, Australia. The sports management major at UConn decided last offseason to do an internship with U.S. Youth Soccer. The organization plays a role at the annual United Soccer Coaches Convention held in conjunction with the draft in Baltimore. Hill had a friend in the draft, so she told her she’d sit with her. Who knew?
“It was crazy, it happened so fast,” Hill said. “I had known a trade was in the works, but didn’t know where. I found out 10 minutes before it was announced. I was shocked, but happy and excited where I ended up.”
COVID-19, the immense social ramifications after the senseless killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, 2020 changes us forever. With players wearing “Black Live Matters” shirts over their uniforms, all 22 starters in the the first NWSL game between North Carolina and Portland on June 27 kneeled during the national anthem.
Most of the Red Stars did, too, before the second game. The photograph of Short and Julie Ertz kneeling together, weeping, with Ertz’s supportive arm around Short was a powerful image. In some photos only Hill’s arm could be seen. In others, Hill was seen standing, head bowed, with her hand on Short’s shoulder.
Hill said she doesn’t pay much attention to social media. She isn’t very active on it. She also knows what can happen in sports. There was a bunch of online criticism and debate. Only weeks earlier Drew Brees was sharply rebuked for his statement that he would never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag.
When Colin Kaepernick kneeled in 2016, he and those who joined him were pressed to explain why. In 2020, Hill became the first to be pressed to explain why not.
“What the Black community goes through on a daily basis in this country is unacceptable,” Hill wrote in a long Instagram post. “The pain. The hurt. Facing racism, prejudice and social injustice — it must change. When I stood for the national anthem … this was a decision that did not come easily or without profound thought. Before the game, I was completely torn on what to do. I spoke with friends, family, and teammates — of all races, religions and backgrounds — with the hope of guidance. I chose to stand because of what the flag inherently means to my military family members and me, but I 100% support my peers.
“Symbolically, I tried to show this with the placement of my hand on Casey’s shoulder and bowing my head. I struggled, but felt that these actions showed my truth, and in the end I wanted to remain true to myself. If this wasn’t clear, let my words and further actions be. I support the Black Lives Movement whole-heartedly. I also support and will do my part in fight against the current inequality. As a white athlete it is way past due for me to be diligently anti-racist.”
Hill confirmed she had long, authentic conversations before and after the game with several teammates, especially Short, Ertz and Sarah Gorden.
“Opinions have been shared, knowledge gained, tears shed, and support shown,” Hill wrote. “I will continue to learn and grow through each of these valuable conversations, with the hope of creating change to someday reach equality.
“Through my faith I’ve been taught love always works, and the command I follow is to, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Galatians 5:14. I pray for the recognition of the dignity and worth of all people. In this moment the Black community needs us. I’m ready to help with meaning action that leads to everlasting change. Do I have all the answers to this? No. But we must start somewhere, and that’s my intent.”
I would have knelt. That’s me. Yet Hill has shown us all she is genuine, taking great pains to show she is an ally while being true to herself. No criticism here.
“Being here with all the girls who have been so incredible along with the staff that have shown support, it has meant an awful lot to me,” Hill said. “And my family was supportive 100 percent whatever I chose.”
I asked Hill who was military in her family. I expected a name or two. She said her dad, her brother, two of her uncles, her grandfather, three of her cousins. Her roots run as deep as her emotions.
On Sunday, Rachel Hill can become the first to complete the full gantlet of 2020 with a championship.