From the Bonner Tennis und Hockey Verein Club in Bonn, Germany, to Division I field hockey in the Ivy League, Philine Klas (‘22) built her field hockey career across two continents. 

Klas began playing field hockey at seven years old at the Erlanger Hockey Club in Germany, following in the footsteps of her older sisters. In Europe, athletics revolved almost entirely around club teams, and the idea of playing sports in college never crossed her mind.

Her perspective changed in 2018, when her family moved to San Diego, the summer before her freshman year of high school. For Klas, the adjustment was not easy at first. 

“I didn’t know a single person when I got to Torrey Pines High School,” Klas said. “It wasn’t easy at the beginning. But looking back on it now, I’m really glad that my family did move.”

According to Klas, the school was her first connection between academics, athletics and the possibility of playing at the next level. She explains how in Germany “club is the only way you do athletics.” 

Her outlook began to shift as she trained alongside teammates already committed to or pursuing college opportunities. She credited varsity girls field hockey head coach, English 10 H and Journalism I teacher Courtney Kun and varsity girls field hockey assistant coach Lindsay Bowman with raising the program’s intensity and expectations during her sophomore year.

“[The coaches] really changed the whole program,” Klas said. “The dynamic shifted drastically, and it became so much more serious.”

One moment from her first season stands out as a turning point.

“Freshman year, there was a game where I scored the overtime goal,” she said. “I didn’t really know people yet, and that gave me more confidence.”

As her confidence grew, so did attention from college programs. However, Klas’ recruitment process took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, when visits, camps and clinics were canceled. Instead, coaches connected with recruits through Zoom calls and virtual tours.

“Even when I committed to Penn, I was never on campus,” Klas said. “I never saw it in person.”

Klas chose the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) for its balance of strong academics and athletics. She wanted a school that would prepare her beyond the sport while still offering a competitive team environment.

“It was always important that I would get good academics out of [playing],” Klas said. “Field hockey isn’t a forever thing, so I knew I could use it as an opportunity to get a good education out of it.”

Her most vivid high school memory, however, is also the most difficult. In the California Interscholastic Federation final her senior year against Scripps Ranch High School, Klas tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the final game of her high school career as the team fell 0-1.

“We lost, and it was devastating,” Klas said. “I still have nightmares about it.”

The injury altered the beginning of her college career. After surgery, she spent her entire freshman year at Penn sidelined in rehabilitation and underwent a second knee surgery during recovery.

“I was in physical therapy for about a year and a half,” Klas said. “My freshman year, it was hard to stay connected to the sport.”

Despite the setback, support from her team made a return “feel possible.” Klas expressed how it felt good to be back in the spring.

Klas is now in her second semester of senior year at Penn, studying philosophy, politics and economics with a concentration in globalization and a minor in consumer psychology. After missing her entire freshman season, she is now a starting center back and a consistent player in her sophomore, junior and senior seasons.

“[Playing so much is] something I can be really proud of,” Klas said. “Especially coming back from such a bad injury.”

Some of her most memorable college games were against Harvard University, where her sister Smilla Klas (‘23) plays, turning each matchup into a family event.

“Every time we play Harvard, it’s a very emotional game for me,” she said. “My whole family is always there, cheering us on. My mom has this jersey that’s split down the middle, so it’s half Penn and half Harvard.”

Since Ivy League rules did not allow Klas to use her extra season of eligibility while beginning graduate level studies, Klas looked elsewhere for playing her fifth year. Duke University offered the opportunity to continue playing while beginning a Master of Management Studies program.

“There were a bunch of connections, which just made the process super easy,” Klas said.

Klas plans on moving to Durham, North Carolina, in July before the season begins in August, starting her master’s program while preparing for one final year on the field.

Looking back on her journey from Bonn to San Diego to the Ivy League and now Duke, Klas said the support behind her mattered as much as any moment on the field.

“I think the support of my family, especially my mom, is what I’m most grateful for,” Klas said. “She would literally go to all [the] tournaments with me and my sister and put so much time and effort into helping me figure out what I wanted.”