Butler’s Hilovsky joining Germany U20 national team
With her parents watching her lacrosse games from the bleachers, Taryn Hilovsky wanted to find a way to distinguish herself from the pack.
“I came up with the idea back when I played youth,” the Butler sophomore said. “My parents couldn’t really tell me apart on the field from other girls. ... I decided to just start wearing crazy socks and stuff. It just happened to be around the Fourth of July, so I just put on some American flag socks.”
Hilovsky will intermittently swap the Stars and Stripes for a black, red, and gold tricolor variety as she begins to compete with the German U20 national team this spring. The opportunity is one that she created for herself while passing time on social media.
“I actually came up with the idea,” Hilovsky said. “I watched a lot of World Lacrosse. I was scrolling through Instagram and saw that they had a U20 German national team. My mom is originally from Germany.
“By being a dual citizen, I was like, ‘Oh, I can go over and play with them and I can have my grandparents and family over there come and watch me play.’”
Hilovsky, who’s been playing the sports since she was a third grader, had already been following the country’s U21 team, which is the group that competes in the Olympics. She wasn’t aware before that there was a younger German cast too.
Her mother, Mareen, emailed the team in German to express interest and sent Taryn’s recruiting profile and game tape when the coaches replied. One of the coaches lives in the United States and got out to a Florida tournament that Hilovsky played in with her club team in November.
“She met me there and watched me play for a bit, then she decided to invite me out,” Hilovsky said. “I’m so used to playing in front of different college coaches and a bunch of different professional players sometimes at camps. Just seeing her there, it almost felt like a college coach was watching me play.”
Hilovsky headed to Germany last month to play with the team for two days. Afterwards, the team’s coaches welcomed her to join for a competition in Cardiff, Wales, in April.
“That kid lives lacrosse,” first-year Golden Tornado coach Corey Hurley said. “I’ve never had a conversation with her that didn’t revolve around lacrosse. Every time I see her, she’s got a stick in her hand or lacrosse apparel on. She works her tail off and she’s earned this opportunity. It’s a unique opportunity for a kid in the United States.”
Hilovsky stared down one certain objective heading into her freshman season with Butler last spring.
“I had high expectations,” Hilovsky recalled. “My goal that season was to build up a lacrosse program at Butler. I had heard from other girls at the time that it wasn’t doing extremely well. I just wanted to go out and do my best, help it out, and get some more recognition for it.”
As a spirited newcomer, she was able to find herself in the mix right away.
“She definitely scored a pile of points for us last year and was one of our go-to girls when it came to putting the ball in the net,” Hurley said. “She came in as a freshman and she could possess the ball. The moment wasn’t too big for her. ... For a freshman to come in and play like that in the conference that we play in, (it’s) not very easy to do.”
Along with having a breakout freshman go-round for the Golden Tornado, Hilovsky has also played for Pittsburgh Premier Lacrosse Club. From fourth through eighth grade, she played with Mars Girls Youth Lacrosse.
None of those experiences are quite like this one figures to be.
“Just being able to show all my national pride for it and being able to have the other side of my nationality means a lot to me,” Hilovsky said. “I love the other side of my nationality. ... Over there, I have an opportunity to just be myself and wear all my German stuff.”
Hilovsky’s family celebrates German holidays, she enjoys going to German markets, and she’s taking German language class in school.
“I’ve been out there (to Germany) a couple of times,” she said. “I hadn’t been able to go back since before COVID. ... Being older, I was just super excited and happy to be able to be given the opportunity to go out, just to see family, as well.”
As for her conspicuous attire?
“I do already have German socks,” Hilovsky assured. “I plan on wearing those over there.”
