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07/25/2023 11:17 PMFor Clara D’Amuri, she prides herself on appearing on the lacrosse turf in any way, shape or form, and she did that in quite a big way for the Branford girls’ lacrosse team in making an impact with ripple waves that could be seen by every member of the program.
Clara grew up playing soccer and lacrosse, getting involved in the latter endeavor in 4th grade. Clara swarmed right into the Hornets’ hive from the jump, as the freshman midfielder garnered overall Team MVP honors and helped boost Branford to a Class M State Tournament bid and berth into the quarterfinals this past spring. Even more impressive, Clara accomplished this feat after overcoming an added hurdle of missing the inaugural week of practice following suffering a concussion.
“You have to make sure you set goals for yourself to succeed, and so I make it a goal to appear in every game in any capacity, and do what my coach needs me to do,” says Clara. “Winning the MVP award was so awesome, because it showed how my hard work paid off. After the concussion, I did weight training and stick work to be ready, but winning the award showed that my good work was not going unseen.”
Fighting through additional back issues, Clara showcased her toughness in the process, though she additionally unearthed the value of a strong mind in overcoming any fears of producing replays of prior injuries.
“The concussion was not too serious, but I also had a stress fracture in my back,” Clara says. “It is scary, because you are always working to strengthen yourself and the muscles injured, but you are also trying not to do the same movements that got you injured. It took a lot to get back to the same level of play as everyone else, but you have to be mentally tough.”
Branford girls’ lacrosse Head Coach Caitlin O’Brien knows all too well what a workhorse assignment manning the midfield entails, though Clara took it on wholeheartedly with grace, passion, and pride while demonstrating the hallmarks of a true team player.
“A mark of a great teammate is somebody who always gets the job done whenever called upon. That being said, Clara was a great teammate,” says O’Brien. “Every time Clara was on the field, she played with unmatched intelligence and calmness. Clara showed up this season ready to work. Starting the year with a concussion, you could see how eager she was to get out on the field with her teammates those first couple of practices. She spread the field, worked the ball up the middle, and handled the ball unlike anyone else. She was a true midfield player that played all positions extremely well, but she excelled so much in the transition both on offense and then hustling back to defense. Clara has an amazing work ethic and gave all her time on the field with her heart and soul. There’s a difference between being good at a sport and being great. Clara is a great lacrosse player. She doesn’t care about how many goals she gets, rather she cares about the team and helping out wherever she can.”
Throughout playing for her various town and club team squads on the pitch and the turf, Clara is used to having a lot of eyeballs gazed upon her when she takes to the field. She notes it can trigger some form of trepidation, yet she looks logically at it, knowing she has her coaches’ collective confidence.
“I have competed at higher-level positions on my prior teams, and I was also standoff-ish with defending due to my concussion, but my nerves were gone after the first two games,” says Clara. “It is still intimidating having people watch you out there, but it is good to know that you are out there because that is where your coach wants you to be.”
While bolstering her power and speed as a utility midfielder that can cross over both sides of the field freely and proficiently, Clara is an ambitious ambidextrous athlete who also looks inward in a calm and productive manner.
“I have gotten a lot stronger and faster, and my stick skills have gotten better,” Clara says. “I can play both hands, both dominant and non-dominant. My communication with my teammates on the field has gotten better, too. I am a lot better at not internalizing things too much, and I also self-reflect after games on what I want to do better the next practice and game.”
The song remains the same for Clara in terms of her personal goals and objectives moving towards year No. 2 of a hopeful long and fruitful tenure with the Hornets, playing alongside a youthful and close-knit club that looks to build upon their postseason push of 2023.
“My goals are to continue to appear on the field and be as successful as I can be for both my team and coach,” says Clara. “For next year, we are looking forward to everyone working as hard as they did last year, if not harder. We are all hungry and want to succeed. We have a young team, but we have some incoming freshmen that will make a huge difference. Our team bonding and chemistry was also very strong this year.”