It seemed as if practice was just getting out early but the Tiger field hockey coaches had other plans. The coaches started the girls with a clue that lead the team across the EHS campus finding an assortment of letters accompanied with a clue to their next location. “At the last spot there was Chicago style popcorn and the final letter.” junior Ryley Miller said. “We rearranged the letters to spell out Chicago and the last envelope said ‘We’re going to Chicago!’”

The Tigers have received an invitation to the 2014 Huskie Invitational. Along with 15 of the Midwest regions most elite school field hockey teams the ladies in orange and black will vie for the championship title on Sept. 19 and 20.

The team was supposed to travel to Kansas City last fall but plans changed and this year no big trips were in the works. That’s why this trip came as such a surprise to the team, junior Maren Hampton said.

“We all threw around random ideas about what we could be looking for but nobody could really figure it out” Miller said.

This trip to Chicago brings a lot of excitement; “I’m excited for the whole experience. The fancy bus and the suits…we never get to travel like other sports do,” Hampton said.

Though the buses, suits and spending the weekend in the big city will be exciting, the team is up there for a reason, “The competition up there will be fantastic.” Hampton said, “It will be a really good experience for us all and it will help us get better by playing other teams.”

After coming off a 1-2 showing at the St. Louis Gateway Classic the Tigers will go into the Huskie Invitational with revenge in mind. “We played the team hosting the tournament and lost” Hampton said. “The teams will be just as challenging if not more than the teams we’re used to playing.”

The Tigers are focusing on their individual weaknesses as well as their weaknesses as a team in preparation for the tournament Hampton said. “We work on shooting drills to ensure when we get to games we will be able to score easily.” Miller said. “We also push our defense in different drills to work on strategies to keep the ball out of our net.”

They are also trying to fit in as much “turf time” as possible, “the football and soccer teams have been very gracious in sharing with us” Miller said. “We defiantly take advantage of every moment we have on the turf and we scrimmage a lot.”

Though some of the teams will be familiar opponents to the Tigers the majority will be new, “I’m really excited to see new competition” Miller said, “I’m excited to get on the field and have a new challenge.”

Every year a number of EHS teams take to the Windy City to face newer and stiffer competition. Come Sept. 19 it will be the Tiger field hockey team showing off their stripes among some of the best in the nation.