The new lacrosse season comes with a new coach and high hopes.
“This coach is going to make us more synergetic. She’s going to make us work more as a team. It’s going to make us look at the game more as players on a team, as in individuals. So, it’s not just all ‘me ball’ it’s ‘we ball’,” senior captain Soren Wierbicki said.
The year started with hesitations on how the season would progress. The new head coach, Kendra Randall played for the varsity lacrosse program, so her coaching technique consists of new and old tricks she experienced while playing the game. She was also the assistant coach last year, so she built a quick connection with the team knowing exactly what they are capable of and what needs to be worked on.
“It brings more of a personal experience to the game. She’s been saying she wants us to do what she would have wanted to do and it’s helping both her as a coach and us as players adjust with a new coach,” junior Gabriella McHugh said.
Players are more engaged in conditioning at practices, focusing on staying alert and reducing tiredness during the second half of the game. Not only that, but before game practices have a slightly different structure than previous years, determined to keep the players comfortable and confident with their skills.
“I’m most excited to see how the team grows over the course of the season. Watching players gain confidence, improve their skills and come together as a team is always the most rewarding part of coaching,” Randall said.
Randall has plans of working with the girls to improve their decision-making skills, situational awareness and the chemistry of the team as a whole. Working throughout the season, one of her biggest goals is to build each girl into better, stronger athletes and even better, stronger individuals.
“She brings a really big positive energy,” Wierbicki said. “I think that having that positive energy on the bench and in a coach will just uplift our morale as a team and force us to really care about the sport.”
