The Red Land field hockey team is inspired by Rachel Apa’s life and her accomplishments. She is at the heart of their 2026 season.
The Red Land field hockey team is headed to the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals Saturday, Nov. 14 after a 3-0 victory over Shady Side Academy on Tuesday.
As the Patriots continue their postseason run, Danica Hobart’s words from Sunday’s walk honoring Rachel Apa offer a reminder of what the former player means to the program.
“We wanted to win for her in remembrance,” Hobart said during a two-mile walk at Red Land High School.
Hobart described a team grateful for the community’s support and determined to show its appreciation for Apa through its play. On Sunday, that support brought players, families, and long-distance supporters together not for a game, but for a walk in her memory.
More than 300 people gathered Nov. 8 at Apa’s alma mater, one week after the 24-year-old former Red Land and Bucknell field hockey player died after collapsing near the end of the New York City Marathon.
They walked eight laps around the school’s track, honoring her with the distance she had been unable to finish.
But the gathering was about more than the final miles of a race. In the memories shared by those who knew her, Apa was a leader younger players looked up to, part of a close-knit circle of teammates and families, and someone whose influence remained long after she left the school.
“She was a legend for our school when she was here,” said Jessica Shettel, a former field hockey booster who helped organize the walk.
After learning of Apa’s death, Shettel contacted the school’s athletic director with a simple question: Could they hold a walk?
The answer was yes. A flyer followed, and the invitation spread. The event was scheduled for 1:30 p.m., a time organizers chose to remember the portion of the previous Sunday, the day of the New York City Marathon, when Apa would have been taking some of her last steps in the marathon, Shettel said.
Originally planned for West Shore Stadium, the walk moved to Red Land to avoid interfering with a play day at Cedar Cliff, Shettel said. What surprised her most was how many people answered the invitation.
“We never imagined that we would have this many people show up,” she said.
Green, the color participants had been asked to wear in tribute to Apa’s marathon outfit, was part of the remembrance. Shettel also noticed Red Land, Central Penn and Bucknell apparel — signs of the different communities connected through Apa’s life.
There was room for grief, but also for laughter and the comfort of remembering her together.
“It’s just really cool to see people come out and you know, be able to laugh and share memories in this type of environment,” Shettel said.
Belinda Heltzel, founder and former owner of Central Penn Field Hockey, remembered Apa’s class and the players who followed as a group that helped build a family atmosphere within the program. Their commitment was not only to the sport, but to one another.
Younger girls measured their progress against those older players, she and field hockey supporter and mom Crystal Crownover Doyle said. Being told they played like Apa was something to celebrate, Heltzel said.
That kind of influence cannot be captured by a score or a season’s record, they said while participating in the walk. It lives in the confidence of a younger athlete, in a shared memory years later, and in the relationships that bring people back together when one of their own is gone.
Doyle recalled younger girls, especially her daughter Ashley, who now plays at Virginia Commonwealth, serving as ball girls at a playoff game and the excitement of being called on by Apa. Years later, the parents and players from those teams could still look back on that part of their lives together.
Sunday’s gathering gave them a place to do so.
“I remember Rachel's passion of saying, ‘give me the ball’ to Ashley,” Doyle said. “And Ashley goes, ‘Rachel was yelling at me to get the ball and I felt so good because I got her the ball.’ Seeing so many of the parents of all of those kids from like Rachel's grade and the grades behind her and just sharing this like extremely valuable part of their journey together; that they can all look back on and come together on right now is, I'm so thankful. A lot of people in the hockey community say this is more than hockey and this is why hockey is hockey. This is the hockey community and this is what we do.”
Walks were also held at Bucknell, VCU, and Stevenson, as well as around the world. They were hosted by former teammates and runners alike to honor Apa.
Apa’s family is also working to turn remembrance into advocacy. Shettel said her parents were organizing the Rachel Apa Foundation, with the hope of improving access to medical care at marathons and other races. The foundation’s goals are to educate people about rhabdomyolysis and advocating for rapid on-course medical care.
For those at Red Land on Sunday, the immediate purpose was simpler: to show up for Apa and for the people who love her.
Red Land field hockey plays Palmyra at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Susquehanna Township High School in the PIAA Class AA Quarterfinals.
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