Seven years ago, Johanna Thill was playing pirates with her brother’s friends and couldn’t understand why they were so much better than her. When the boys explained they took fencing classes at Minnesota Sword Club, Thill decided to check out the sport for herself. The Chanhassen student’s swordsmanship has come a long way since then. This February, she placed sixth in the under-20 division at the U.S. National Juniors Championships. Thill, now 17, said she enjoys the speed and intensity of saber competition, her chosen form of fencing. She also likes that smaller athletes can use superior …

By the time most American athletes are in high school, they have years of experience with their sport. Not so for rugby. Hopkins Rugby is filled with players whose experience with the sport ranges from moderate to none at all. Team Captain Marty Broberg has played just four years. Yet their relative newness to the sport is just one more piece of evidence that these athletes are truly playing for the love of the game. The Hopkins girls rugby team launched in 1999, while the boys team began in 2001. The teams remain club sports, not part of the high school. To Americans, whose contact sport of …

If you’re looking for Kendall or Payton Meuwissen, chances are they’re in a dance studio. The Golden Valley sisters spend hours on end perfecting their skills. Kendall, a junior at Hopkins High School, spends upwards of 30 hours a week dancing between her time with Summit Dance Shoppe and the varsity dance team. That practice has paid off. Earlier month, Kendall was third runner up at the Miss Dance/Drill Team USA competition in Irvine, CA, and also won the award for best dance technique. Payton, 9, placed first at the Little Miss Dance/Drill Team USA competition. For the Meuwissens, dancing …

Kicking the ball around is nothing new for the players on the Bunny’s soccer team. Some of the women on the team have played together since they were 9 years old. That experience working together has led to Hopkins Pavilion recreation division championships each of the past two years. The team, so named because it’s sponsored by St. Louis Park’s Bunny’s Bar and Grill, was so good that this year it is putting its skills to the test in the more-competitive premier division. “A lot of us grew up playing soccer, so it’s just kind of a way to still play the game and also get some exercise,” said …

Editor's Note: Today, Patch is debuting the second of four new video series. “Superstar Next Door” highlights notable athletes and teams in community sports leagues. New editions of Superstar Next Door appear every Tuesday. You can tell who they are by the ribbons on their running shoes. The pastel strips of fabric flap in the wind to remind them why they are covering so many miles—each ribbon a symbol of someone who’s been affected by blood cancer. “It’s when the miles start getting long and my feet really start hurting that I really think about Tony,” said Eva Nelson, referring to a friend …