Pandemic upsets promising
'Campaign 2020' for Bires, Lake Forest
By Bill McLean
Lake Forest girls soccer coach Ty Stuckslager would like nothing better than to be able to support Sarah Bires for United States president. But there are 17 issues with that wish.
Bires is 17 years shy of 35, the minimum age required to run for POTUS.
“I’d vote for her,” Stuckslager said of the defender, a recent Lake Forest graduate and the high school’s 2019-20 student body president. “She does the right things on and off the field. She understands what’s required and needed. In soccer she was able organize things back there and diffuse situations before they’d blow up.
“She’d be a good president,” the coach added.
She would’ve been a significant leader in the back for the Scouts’ “Campaign 2020” this spring had the pandemic not won an unscheduled election in a landslide on April 21, when the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) canceled all spring sports state tournaments.
“It was supposed to be our last hurrah,” Bires said, referring to the decorated class of 14 senior booters, of which many, including Bires, played for three Lake Forest Soccer Association (LFSA) state championship squads. “I was looking forward to the season; we all were. I was excited to represent my school in soccer once again. We would’ve been very good.
“But we're lucky to have competed together for so many years, to have made the connections we did.”
Bires, a center and outside back, played consistently smart soccer in front of her goalkeeper and amplified her voice to a bullhorn level to keep her mates organized. She absolutely loved the challenge of flummoxing threat-a-second forwards at nearly every turn. She made LF’s freshman-laden varsity in 2017 and then opted — with several of her classmates — to join U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy from 2018-19.
The decision included a stop sign each spring. The DA prohibited its players from competing in IHSA contests.
Playing one more season in the Scouts blue-and-gold threads would have been a foreword-to-epilogue thrill for Lake Forest’s formidable contingent this spring.
Bires, who also served as sophomore and junior class president, delivered a speech at the graduation ceremonies June 6. It spotlighted her peers’ resiliency and ability to overcome adversity. Many in the Class of 2020, after all, were born around the time of 9-11 and completed their final high-school semester from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bires’ speech lasted between 3 and 4 minutes, but she made every syllable of every word count.
The senior was a monumental communicator on the pitch, and not once did she need a podium or a teleprompter to blare her messages.
“She was fast and really dedicated too,” said goalkeeper Sophia DiVagno, a recent fellow graduate whose image will appear alongside nine other student-athletes from the Class of 2020 on the school’s Wall of Excellence. “What I also loved about her game, about her intensity, was how often she was on the ground. But not because players had knocked her down; she’d end up there many times because of her hustle and her toughness.
“Sarah, defensively, was such a strong player for us.”
Back in the third grade, a season after battling for an LFSA ‘B’ crew, Bires got promoted and suited up for an ‘A’ team. In the first day of practice, following a few drills, she had to return her jaw to its home.
It had thumped turf , but she rebounded quickly.
“So many great players around me,” recalled Bires, still in awe. “I noticed the immaculate vibe of the team right away.”
Next up for Bires, in soccer, could be club action at Notre Dame “because the school’s regular team is amazing,” she noted. The triplet will make that decision after settling in as either an aerospace or chemical engineering major in South Bend. Former womb mates Maggie and Kevin Bires plan to attend the Miami (Fla.) and Indiana, respectively.
Sarah Bires owns an International Space Station-lofty career goal.
“I want to work for NASA someday,” she said.
Speaking of things up there, in addition to the right stuff, Lake Forest’s school spirit soared on Bires’ watch as student body president. Bires bombarded social media often with reminders and rallying cries before sports showdowns in the fall and winter months. Packed pep rallies popped too many eardrums to count and reduced bleachers to vulnerable structures. Bires also made sure students in all classes knew everything they needed to know about fine arts shows and club activities.
Bires leaves behind an impact from her time in student government. It’s likely only COVID-19 kept her from doing the same on the soccer field this spring.
'Campaign 2020' for Bires, Lake Forest
By Bill McLean
Lake Forest girls soccer coach Ty Stuckslager would like nothing better than to be able to support Sarah Bires for United States president. But there are 17 issues with that wish.
Bires is 17 years shy of 35, the minimum age required to run for POTUS.
“I’d vote for her,” Stuckslager said of the defender, a recent Lake Forest graduate and the high school’s 2019-20 student body president. “She does the right things on and off the field. She understands what’s required and needed. In soccer she was able organize things back there and diffuse situations before they’d blow up.
“She’d be a good president,” the coach added.
She would’ve been a significant leader in the back for the Scouts’ “Campaign 2020” this spring had the pandemic not won an unscheduled election in a landslide on April 21, when the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) canceled all spring sports state tournaments.
“It was supposed to be our last hurrah,” Bires said, referring to the decorated class of 14 senior booters, of which many, including Bires, played for three Lake Forest Soccer Association (LFSA) state championship squads. “I was looking forward to the season; we all were. I was excited to represent my school in soccer once again. We would’ve been very good.
“But we're lucky to have competed together for so many years, to have made the connections we did.”
Bires, a center and outside back, played consistently smart soccer in front of her goalkeeper and amplified her voice to a bullhorn level to keep her mates organized. She absolutely loved the challenge of flummoxing threat-a-second forwards at nearly every turn. She made LF’s freshman-laden varsity in 2017 and then opted — with several of her classmates — to join U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy from 2018-19.
The decision included a stop sign each spring. The DA prohibited its players from competing in IHSA contests.
Playing one more season in the Scouts blue-and-gold threads would have been a foreword-to-epilogue thrill for Lake Forest’s formidable contingent this spring.
Bires, who also served as sophomore and junior class president, delivered a speech at the graduation ceremonies June 6. It spotlighted her peers’ resiliency and ability to overcome adversity. Many in the Class of 2020, after all, were born around the time of 9-11 and completed their final high-school semester from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bires’ speech lasted between 3 and 4 minutes, but she made every syllable of every word count.
The senior was a monumental communicator on the pitch, and not once did she need a podium or a teleprompter to blare her messages.
“She was fast and really dedicated too,” said goalkeeper Sophia DiVagno, a recent fellow graduate whose image will appear alongside nine other student-athletes from the Class of 2020 on the school’s Wall of Excellence. “What I also loved about her game, about her intensity, was how often she was on the ground. But not because players had knocked her down; she’d end up there many times because of her hustle and her toughness.
“Sarah, defensively, was such a strong player for us.”
Back in the third grade, a season after battling for an LFSA ‘B’ crew, Bires got promoted and suited up for an ‘A’ team. In the first day of practice, following a few drills, she had to return her jaw to its home.
It had thumped turf , but she rebounded quickly.
“So many great players around me,” recalled Bires, still in awe. “I noticed the immaculate vibe of the team right away.”
Next up for Bires, in soccer, could be club action at Notre Dame “because the school’s regular team is amazing,” she noted. The triplet will make that decision after settling in as either an aerospace or chemical engineering major in South Bend. Former womb mates Maggie and Kevin Bires plan to attend the Miami (Fla.) and Indiana, respectively.
Sarah Bires owns an International Space Station-lofty career goal.
“I want to work for NASA someday,” she said.
Speaking of things up there, in addition to the right stuff, Lake Forest’s school spirit soared on Bires’ watch as student body president. Bires bombarded social media often with reminders and rallying cries before sports showdowns in the fall and winter months. Packed pep rallies popped too many eardrums to count and reduced bleachers to vulnerable structures. Bires also made sure students in all classes knew everything they needed to know about fine arts shows and club activities.
Bires leaves behind an impact from her time in student government. It’s likely only COVID-19 kept her from doing the same on the soccer field this spring.