BY DAN STICKRADT
COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST | WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR | DIRECTOR OF NEWS
PH: (248) 884-1051
TW/X: @msn_stickradt @LocalSportsFans @MiSoccerNetwork
CANTON, Mich. – Claire Hammill loves pasta.
Period.
She can even whip up a great bowl of vodka pasta and her family can enjoy a feast.
“I love it,” smiled Hammill, a graduating senior at Salem High School. “I really can make a great (batch) of vodka sauce. It’s so good.”
Not only is Hammill a deft cook of all things pasta in the kitchen, she can also cook up a winning recipe on the playing surface and lead a soccer team out on the pitch. Hammill plays for a very hungry Salem team that is more than making up for lost time.
Ranked in the top 15 in the state or listed as honorable mention all season in Division 1, Salem (15-5-5) entered the 2024 campaign not winning a district title since 1998 and not winning a regional crown since 1995. Those long postseason journeys were far before Hammill and her teammates were even born.
Still, Salem – always a quality team in boys soccer and girls soccer -- erased the past over these past few weeks. The Rocks went 3-0 in district play, topping Plymouth (2-1) in the pre-districts, eighth-ranked Canton (2-1) in the district semifinals and longtime power and KLAA Tournament champion Livonia Stevenson (3-0) in the district finals in late May. Last week, the Rocks defeated second-ranked Ann Arbor Skyline (1-0) in the regional semifinals and dominated unranked Grosse Pointe South (3-0) to win the school to win the regional title and end a 29-year drought.
“We knew it had been forever since we won a district,” reminded Hammill during regional week. “We hope we can keep it going.”
The last time Salem reached the semifinals 29 years ago, Salem dropped a 2-0 decision to eventual state champion Birmingham Seaholm. Bill Clinton was still president. In 1998, Salem won a district and lost in the regional semifinals to eventual state champion Stevenson.
Despite generally finishing over the five-hundred mark and in the top half of the KLAA logjam over the past quarter century, for whatever the reason, Salem had a curse over its girls soccer program – until Hammill and her teammates were able to break the quarter century hex.
Hammill has never played high school soccer until this last March. She has competed since the fifth grade with the Michigan Hawks, one of the most storied youth clubs in Michigan history and competed for their highest ECNL (Elite Clubs National League) teams from grades 7-12 – a program that regularly qualifies for the national tournaments almost every summer.
Hammill is one of several highly-regarded players that worked out a deal with the Hawks and their respective schools to play high school soccer as a senior. They had to report back to the Livonia-based Michigan Hawks for a late April tournament to help clinch a berth in the ECNL national tournament this summer – an accomplishment that those group of players fulfilled – but there was a catch. The MHSAA made those players sit three full regular season games in succession (not weekend tournaments) to be eligible for the remainder of the 2024 high school campaign.
“I had to sit out a couple of games, but I had commitments with the Hawks and we had to try to make the national tournament,” noted Hammill. “We made it, so that was big.
“I’m glad I had a chance to play high school and with a lot of my friends,” continued Hammill. “It was always a discussion and I really wanted to play one year with my friends at Salem. I was able to work it out. I love my Hawks teammates, too. I’ve met so many great people in (the soccer community) growing up and I have had some incredible experiences. (Michigan Hawks Director of Coaching) Michelle Krzisnik is a great coach. She has helped me get to where I am today as a player. She’s the best coach I’ve ever had.”
Kyle Karns, the boys soccer and girls soccer head coach for the last decade at Salem, is glad to inherit a player of Hammill’s talent and pedigree and said she may have been the missing piece in recent years.
“We have kids that play ECNL or Girls Academy, or MLS Next (Academy) on the boys’ side every school year that are walking our hallways and not playing high school soccer,” noted Karns. “Sometimes you may get those kids for a season or two and sometimes you don’t. Everybody in the soccer (power areas) understands this. We were fortunate enough to have Claire to be able to play with us this season. She’s made a huge impact.”
Hammill is also an accomplished swimmer, qualifying for the Division 1 state meet all four years of high school in a variety of events. She was All-State six times between open events and relays and even had a pair of top three finishes at the state meet in the 100 butterfly during her career.
“I’ve always wanted to be in the pool. I love swimming, too,” said Hammill. “I (qualified) for the (state meet) each year and I was second one year in the 100 fly and third another time in the 100 fly. I think I was All-State (top 16 in any event) six times for Salem.”
Hammill’s first love is soccer and she has been playing the sport for “as long as I can remember” if not longer.
“I was a really little kid when my parents put me into those (clinics) for the little ones,” laughed Hammill.
Those seeds were planted before Hammill even entered kindergarten. And she progressed up the charts each year and is known to be one of the top players in Michigan (ages 14-18) right now combining ECNL, Girls Academy, various levels of youth club soccer and high school ranks, where the Michigan prep season is held from mid-March and into June for teams that make a postseason run.
But the uber-talented, multi-sport athlete’s true first love is soccer and that is the sport she will play for at the next level. She signed earlier this school year with NCAA Division I Rutgers University of the Big Ten Conference and should be a key contributor in the midfield for the Scarlet Knights in the near future.
After the high school season is complete for the Rocks, Hammill will get back to training with the Hawks for the ECNL national tournament. She’ll even squeeze in some training and perhaps some games with Flint City AFC of the USL-W League, a college-age national league which is in its third year of existence.
But the latest chapter of her successful soccer career is with Salem, where she just graduated from earlier this month. Following Salem’s big win Friday in the Division 1 regional finals, Hammill has helped her new-found teammates and longtime friends and classmates into the Final Four for the first time in nearly three decades and the final week of the 2023-24 high school sports calendar.
Salem (15-5-5) will face sixth-ranked Rochester Adams (14-2-2) in the state semifinals June 11 at 7 p.m. at Troy High School.
“I want to help my team go as far as we can,” said Hammill. “It’s been so long since (our program) has been beyond districts, we want to stick around and win more championships.”
And create more memories in a career full of highlights and experiences.
(Have a story suggestion for the Premier Media Group and the Michigan Soccer Network regarding club soccer, high school varsity, amateur soccer, collegiate soccer or professional soccer of teams or players with Michigan ties, contact Communications Specialist/Web and Content Editor/Director of News Dan Stickradt via email at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com, or call 248-884-1051. Dan Stickradt is a 31-year veteran of the Michigan Media circles and recently joined the staff full time in March of 2024. Want to schedule a broadcast game or live show, contact PMG/MSN Director of Broadcasting Jonathan Turner for availability and pricing at jonathan@michigansoccernetwork.com.)
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