New to the Sport: The Middle School and JV Lacrosse Teams
Sixth grade lacrosse members recap a season of modified introduction to a new sport.
MS (Middle School) Lacrosse was such a fun sport and so gratifying for all of the team this year. It was an enriching experience because it not only taught us to play lacrosse but it taught us to be better teammates and how to support our team with bright, contagious team spirit. MS lacrosse this year consisted of many sixth graders and two seventh graders.
Most of the girls who were in middle school lacrosse had never even laid their hands on a lacrosse stick before. But Coach Crehan, Coach Stebbins, and Coach Hanrahan put time and effort into shaping us into wonderful lacrosse players and teammates. The coaches did so many things to help us to be the best lacrosse players we can be and to push us to our limit of success.
With COVID-19, however, there were many different elements to our practices this year. For instance, during practice we would always check our temperatures before our daily cradling lap around the field. Of course, we would wear masks like any other usual activity during these unprecedented times. But not only that, we also lost the chance to play games this season. For many first-timers to lacrosse, not being able to play in games was very unfortunate. We didn’t have the valuable experience of competing against other teams. However, our coaches made up for it at the last practice with an ice cream party and the chance to watch our varsity team’s last game of the season!
Junior Varsity lacrosse, or JV, was very similar. JV and MS played together all season. We did scrimmages, drills, and huddles together almost every practice. In the end, we were sure that all of us (MS and JV) were going to leave with great memories, and a new skill that has either been strengthened or newly discovered on our team this year.
One team member who wished to be left anonymous said: “I really enjoyed the games and the coaches!”
Gabby Haney ‘27, who was on MS, added: “I loved learning a new sport, I had lots of fun and learned new skills.”
Bridget Devaney ‘27 said that she loved practicing lacrosse. “Practice! We did many drills, activities and games, like steal the bacon, a crowd favorite!” Bridget also said: “I would love more practices! This season felt so short!” Bridget was one of the few sixth graders on the JV team along with Annabella Kelly ‘27 and Brooke Surdel ‘27. Annabella said: “I love lacrosse! We do shuttles and drills, but I don’t like the laps!”
One JV team member who also wished to remain anonymous said: “We mostly did drills, but sometimes we scrimmaged with half the team defending and the other half playing offense.”
We asked our coaches to also talk about their experience with lacrosse this year, as well, and Coach Crehan responded: “We were blessed with a beautiful spring season to learn and practice lacrosse skills. Having a season this year allowed the girls to bond on yet another level as teammates, expend energy in a healthy and constructive way, and have fun and learn lacrosse skills while doing it!”
All in all, the 2021 lacrosse season was a great success. Next year we look forward to developing our skills even further and hopefully playing some games!
Tvesha Patel ‘27 and Anna Kocho ‘27, Contributing Writers
