The thud of cleats hitting the turf, the echo of a ball being passed from person to person, applause roaring from the crowd with every goal scored. Players chasing down the ball, two pairs of cleats, and identical faces, run to get to the ball first. Seniors Morgan and Chloe Hoffman have played soccer together for 14 years. 

     “I feel like I know where she is [on the field] even though I don’t have to look up,” Chloe Hoffman said. Some people may think that playing with a sibling could be challenging due to the pressure and competitive nature of sports, but that’s not the case for the Hoffmans. 

     “My sophomore year, I got put on JV and Morgan got put on varsity, and I wanted to get on varsity so bad, and I tried so hard, and then I ended up bumping up midseason to varsity,” Chloe Hoffman said. 

     Although there are some benefits to playing with a sibling during a game, practices leading up to the game can pose some challenges for siblings. “We’re always, like, friendly fire. But obviously there’s some competition there,” Morgan Hoffman said.

     Being together all their life, the Hoffmans have found that things that happen on the field sometimes don’t always stay there. “The debrief after games, we gossip … but it’s mostly about how we played and what we think we could do better,” Morgan said.

     Playing with family may seem to have only benefits to some, which is exactly the case with the Hoffmans. Some aspects allow them to grow as athletes and trust one another, while also pushing one another to be the best they can.