Bailey Sapp: Adding to the HSE Soccer Legacy

Hamilton Southeastern Girls Soccer 2023 Overview & 2024 Outlook

The Hamilton Southeastern Girl’s Soccer Program has a long history of talented players consistently competing for Hoosier Crossroads Conference and IHSAA tournament titles. Looking back at the 2023 season, the Lady Royals again proved to be talented and a well-balanced team. With 11 Seniors on the roster, the Royals put together a stellar regular season record of 13-2-3 and captured the Hoosier Crossroads Conference title (6-0-1). After winning their first match in IHSAA tournament play, their season run was halted by the eventual 2023 IHSAA State Champions, and cross-town rivals, Noblesville Lady Millers in a close 2-1 match. According to MaxPreps, the Lady Royals finished 25th in the Nation and 5th in the State, both extremely impressive results.

Statistically speaking the 2023 team displayed great balance with 18 different players contributing to the points column. The squad was led in scoring by Sophomore, Riley Boyd with 30 points (12G, 6A), followed closely by teammate Sloane May (So.) with 28 points (10G, 8A). Senior Hailey Wade logged most of the season’s minutes in goal for the Royals. Wade and her backline posted an impressive 0.583 Goals Against Average (GAA) with Wade recording an admirable .900 Save Percentage.

As the Lady Royals look to reload and continue their program success, they will look to the incoming Seniors and underclassmen to step up and execute the blueprint for success that Coach Greg Davidson and his staff have created during his tenure as the Lady Royals Head Coach. The program’s regular season schedule and sectional group are among the toughest in Indiana, so they will look to come into the preseason focused and determined to defend their HCC Championship title from 2023 and beyond.

A New Face Added to the Roster

When attending an HSE Girl’s match this season you might notice a new face on the roster. Sophomore Bailey Sapp will join the Lady Royals roster for the 2024 season and is Soccer Nation’s first Spotlight Athlete of the Week. This week’s blog post will help readers get to know Bailey, learn about her soccer career, and what her goals are for this upcoming HSE soccer season.

Bailey is the product of a military family. Josh and Tasha (Bailey’s parents), both originally from Kentucky, moved around the country for several years while Josh served in the US Marine Corps ( Thanks for your service, Mr. Sapp) before settling down in Cincinnati. It was there that Bailey was born. The family then moved to Central Indiana in 2013. Despite having ties to Ohio and now Indiana, the Sapp family “bleed Kentucky Wildcat Blue” according to Tasha.

It was actually in Indiana that Bailey found soccer and right away she knew she loved the sport. “I started playing soccer when I was 6 years old. One of my friend’s Dad was a coach, and he invited me to play on his team. As soon as I started playing I knew that I loved the game”. Bailey continued, “ My parents kind of wanted me to play softball, but I just really kind of knew that Soccer was what I wanted to play”. Bailey has stuck with Soccer over the years and currently competes at the highest level of Club Soccer playing for the Indiana Eleven Pro Academy ECNL 08 Girls Team. “The things that I enjoy most about playing Soccer are the competitiveness, the team atmosphere, and just the feeling of a family that a team offers”. Bailey’s Indy Eleven Club squad has qualified for the ECNL National Playoffs the last two years back-to-back but has ultimately fallen short playing against some of the best teams in the country. “ I have trained extra hard this season to try and help my team have more success at both the local and National levels. The game of Soccer has taught me to have a good work ethic and how to become a better leader” added Bailey. “I want to win at Nationals really bad” she noted with a determined look on her face.

Bailey opted to play for her Indy Eleven team year-round in 2023, which means she was not eligible to play for Coach Davidson and the Lady Royals last season. It was a tough decision, but Bailey’s parents let her make it herself. Bailey’s Mom, Tasha, felt it was important that Bailey made the final decision and that she and her Dad would be supportive either way. Tasha added “ We wanted Bailey to decide with no pressure from us either way. We supported the decision and felt like it was best for us at the time. But this is a new year and she’s decided to play high school soccer. We support that as well. ” They seem to have no regrets, however, the family really seems to be looking forward to Bailey playing in an HSE kit this fall. “ I am just really excited to be playing with my high school friends. Last season, I saw the celebrations, the bonding on and off the field, the bus rides, and all of that stuff. I just want to experience that”. Bailey knows that she will face a tough schedule at HSE, seeing many of the same faces she sees playing at the Club level, but she is up for the challenge. “ I just want to add whatever I can to the team, and help them continue to win and get further into the (IHSAA) tournament”, Sapp added.

In my personal opinion and through years of experience, high school athletes gain a lot of life skills and attributes by competing in IHSAA athletics. Not to say the same can’t be said for club participation, but representing your community/school, learning how to lead, and learning how to make other players around you better are just a few of the attributes I find most rewarding for high school athletes to experience as they mature into young adults. Just my two cents worth, but it certainly helped my daughter as a player and a person when she played high school soccer.

Bailey has also had to overcome obstacles and had to learn the value of hard work. While being a member of the Indy Eleven Pro Academy team is certainly an honor, it started as a difficult journey. Initially, minutes were scarce for Bailey being the new player on the team. “At first I was only getting like 10-15 minutes a half. There are a lot of talented players on our team. I worked super hard on my fitness and technical skills, and tried to show out at practice”. Eventually, her minutes increased, and now she plays a very important role on the team. This should serve as an example to every Soccer Nation Indiana reader that if you set a goal and put in the work in to achieve it, you can have success…even at one of the highest levels of Club Soccer.

Bailey is an Outside Back who is versatile and can play on either side of the pitch. She is a solid defender and also gets aggressively involved offensively. “I love scoring goals, but defense is important too. I also like to set my teammates up with crosses into the box”, Bailey confirmed. She hopes to offer similar help to her HSE teammates in 2024. Sapp said “ I just want to play my game and help my teammates and team be successful. My season goals are to add my technical skills to my gameplay, be a team leader, communicate on the pitch, and just have fun playing with my friends and for my school”. While Sapp feels most comfortable at OB, she is willing and capable of playing other positions as well. “ Wherever coach puts me on the field, I will do whatever it takes to help my team on the pitch”.

Future Plans

Bailey doesn’t really have a future career path or particular college in mind just yet, but she is interested in perhaps attending and playing Soccer at a few local colleges (Purdue, Kentucky, Miami of Ohio, & Ball State), but is also open to going South to find warm weather. “ I am open to colleges in the south, some in state, and even in surrounding states. I still have some time to figure all that out, but I am excited to play college soccer someday”.

During our interview, I could tell that Bailey is a fierce competitor who loves to win but also understands all the other important “stuff” that comes with playing soccer. She has a team-first approach and is willing to sacrifice her stats so that others succeed. She has a great working ethic, as demonstrated by her outstanding GPA, while also attending club and private workouts on multiple days of the week. Additionally, you can tell that she has passion, loves playing alongside and helping her teammates, and understands the high importance of team culture. Coach Davidson has a really good player and a seemingly very mature Sophomore coming to his roster this summer. I am excited to catch a few HSE matches this season and watch the Lady Royals work through their schedule. I have a feeling they will be reloaded, focused, and ready to continue their success. If you do attend, and I strongly encourage you to attend and support IHSAA soccer whenever possible, make sure you keep your eye on the quick and talented outside back for HSE. I believe she will stand out on the pitch while also fitting in nicely as the Hamilton Southeastern Lady Royals look to continue their tradition of success. Good luck this coming season to Bailey and the entire HSE Lady Royals team!

Until next time - Stay Real, Stay Humble, & Be Kind!

~ Scott

Be sure to check out and follow Bailey on Social Media - on X @BaileyRSapp20