Plainfield Athletes Continue Building a Strong Winning Legacy
According to the National Academy of Athletics (NAofA), athletics at the high school level have been known to improve physical health and wellness, develop teamwork and other social skills, and enhance academic performance.
If you’ve ever been involved on a high school sports team, club or other extracurricular, you likely have memories that have lasted a lifetime of hard work — but a ton of fun too.
Those are some of the many reasons high schools across the country participate in a variety of team sports, and in the past several years at Plainfield High School, they have been excelling across the board.
Plainfield School Corporation offers 22 sports at the high school level.
Students can choose cross country, tennis, football, volleyball, girls golf, boys tennis and soccer in the fall. The winter brings wrestling, swimming and diving, cheerleading and basketball, and in the spring, they offer baseball, softball, boys golf, track and field and girls tennis.
In 2024, the football team, boys cross country, girls soccer and varsity cheerleading were all Mid-State Conference champions. By the spring of 2025, another list of accomplishments was added, as the girls basketball team won the Mid-State Conference and the 2025 Hendricks County Tournament.
The boys basketball, boys track and field and softball teams were Mid-State Conference champions, and the boys and girls swimming and diving teams were 2025 IHSAA sectional champions.
Torrey Rodkey, athletic director for Plainfield High School, says even more importantly, the teams are competitive season after season.
“You rarely find a Plainfield team finishing outside of the top three. We’ve been very consistent as far as success goes,” Rodkey says.
Achieving this level, according to Rodkey, depends on everyone working together.
“It’s a testament to our athletes and the amount of time and consistency they are putting in,” Rodkey says. “High school sports have become a year-round endeavor, and we have a lot of veteran coaches putting in that time and effort for training and getting our athletes in the position to succeed.”
Though Rodkey is proud of the coaches and athletes, he knows they aren’t doing it alone. He looks back at the Optimist leagues, local travel teams and Plainfield Middle School — all contributing to their success.
“By the time these athletes get to middle school, they’ve already put in a lot of time and effort,” Rodkey says. “Most athletes don’t get started in middle school or high school. They’ve been doing this for years, so by the time they get to us, it’s just our job to keep that training and development rolling.”
He credits the community for its united effort and says it makes the high school athlete experience that much better. It’s not something to take for granted.
“Not every community has that,” Rodkey says. “Some communities have great systems in place for young athletes, but not every community has it and not every school system has the support. One of the things we really take pride in with our coaching staff is making sure high school is a positive experience, so we’re building the overall student-athlete. We want to win, but at the end of the day, we want them to learn hard work, dedication, loyalty and teamwork.”
The losses are just as important as the wins in their overall development.
Rodkey says not everyone gets a trophy. Not everyone gets a ring or a big celebration at the end of the year, but those moments matter too.
“Being able to fight through tough times and persevere as a team and as a school is important,” he says. “Sometimes our athletes learn more from losing than we do winning. It’s about keeping your head up and moving forward. On the other side of that is not getting too full of yourself when you’re winning. We want to stay grounded, not get too high or too low.”
In his 17th year at Plainfield High School, Rodkey has seen the results of the department’s work.
New sports have been added, athletes have graduated and moved on to careers and other life goals — but they often come back.
“A lot of them come back to see us,” he says. “They had a good experience and they miss it, and this is something they’ll take with them for the rest of their lives. We have a number of dads who are former Pride football players now coaching at the youth level. A number of athletes have come back to coach for us at Plainfield High School. I think part of it is the positive impact we’ve made on athletes during their time here.”
The 2025-26 school year has begun, and fall and winter sports are concluding. Plainfield High School will likely add more accolades to their list.
In fact, as of our publication date this fall, the girls volleyball team has already won Mid-State Conference and IHSAA regionals, and the boys and girls cross country team has two athletes headed to state.
Most of all, they’ll be making memories, developing new skills and creating something they’ll take with them when they leave.
“We have so much support, and everyone from myself, our principal and our staff — we are exceptionally proud of our coaches and our athletes for all the hard work they put into making Plainfield athletics a positive experience and the opportunities they’ve created to compete at the highest level,” Rodkey says.
For the most recent competitions and accomplishments, visit plainfieldathletics.com.
