‘We are one team, we are one family’

The Clearview Regional High School field hockey team is nearing the end of a big season.

The girls came out of the 2025 season as state champions in the NJSIAA Group 3 state final for the third consecutive year. This year, the team is fighting for one more.

During the regular season, which just ended on October 27 against Gloucester County Institute of Technology, Clearview won 18 out of 20 games. Now, the team is in the playoffs, and they are working towards that fourth champion title.

“Last year, three in a row was a difficult task, so four is even harder,” said longtime head coach Britney Ewan. “We graduated five really great, strong seniors (last year), but we have the talent to do it, and we’ve proven that this year with some really strong wins against some tough teams. We’re definitely preparing for it, and we’re we’re ready for the challenge.”

In addition to preparing all season, the team has been celebrating other victories.

At the first game of the season on September 3, the varsity field hockey team beat Egg Harbor Township High School with a score of 6-0. This win not only set the team up for a successful season: it also was marked as Ewan’s 300th career win as head coach with Clearview, after ending last season on her 299th win.

Ewan has been at Clearview for 21 years. When she first came to the school, she immediately stepped in as the field hockey team’s head coach and as a physical education teacher. While coaching and teaching at the same school for 21 years is an accomplishment of its own, Ewan attributes her 300th victory to all the players she has worked with over the years.

“It’s crazy to think that I’ve been here that long, but you know, like I say, time flies by when you’re having fun and when you’re enjoying what you do every day, it kind of makes it that much better,” she said. “I have to give credit to all of my players who have been here through the years, because they’re the ones that earned the win, and I wouldn’t have that success and that you triumph if it wasn’t for my players from all the way back to 2006 till today.”

Ewan said she is constantly reminding her teams of the players that “paved the way” before them and “created an opportunity for (them) to be here.” As a coach, that is a fundamental value she takes to heart for her team and herself.

“I’m not a coach that stresses upon…milestones or accolades or stats,” she said. “I’ve just always been so team driven, and I’m always just stressing to the girls that it takes a village, and we have to all do it together. There’s no one person that makes or breaks a game or a success.”

It also is important for Ewan’s team to consistently see a positive example being set by her. While the wins do matter, she does not want her players to view that as the only measure of success.

“I’m very big on making sure that we have a positive culture within the team and a positive camaraderie. We are one team, we are one family, and we have to always support each other; that’s how you become successful,” she said. “We celebrate everyone’s triumph, and we pick each other up when we have bad days, and that’s how you make a team successful.”

She also ensures her players are successful as people, not just players. The team has had an ongoing motto of “Clearview Class,” suggesting that the team and the girls carry themselves and their character in a positive way. This includes the team being respectful to opponents, officials, fans and one another on and off the field.

As head coach and mother of a freshman on the field hockey team, Ewan is adamant about keeping clear boundaries between coach and mom, and her daughter follows suit. However, Ewan said having her daughter on her team and on the field during her 300th win was a special experience.

“It definitely was neat to have her there. She’s been always on the sidelines for the last 14 years. (I basically watched her) grow up with a stick in her hand on the sidelines, so to actually have her on the field and be a part of that was definitely bittersweet,” she said.

Clearview’s latest field hockey match was on November 3 against Highland in the first round of the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 Tournament. Results are available online.