As their new season looms on the horizon, UC High’s Girls Lacrosse Team is fired up and ready to take on this year.
Head Coach Samatha Staples said, “I started coaching because before graduating in 2019 at UC, I started playing lacrosse when they first established the sport my sophomore year. I then started to coach middle school teams and kept the passion from then on. I have been coaching for three years, and I’m so excited to be coaching for varsity this year when the season starts. Because the season hasn’t started yet, I am very glad that the athletes have stepped up to leadership, and I am impressed by how the seniors have taken the lead in openfield preseason lacrosse.”
Staples talked about how the team will face new challenges this year. “We’re in the Western League now because we’ve been really successful, meaning that we might have some tougher competition. The main goal that I want for the team is to make sure that the team captain steps up, and to have more team bonding. When the players are successful on the team then everything will go well on the field.”
Junior Sara Velasquez said, “I have been playing lacrosse since freshman year, because I was inspired by my family and friends. The position I play is defense, and I really enjoy playing when I do that. Because we aren’t in season right now, I do work out a lot by going to the gym. My goal for this year is to just have fun with everyone around me and to go to CIFs again.
Velasquez went on to say, “The team has great chemistry among each other, because we all know each other, which is great. We’ve been friends since before playing the sport and I really think that’s how we all connect together. This especially helps during a game; we know what to say to each other and what to do.”
Senior Kiera Roberts said, “I really love the sport since I joined four years ago with my best friend. I like to play defense, because I don’t have to worry about actually scoring; I just have to send it back to someone. We have a lot of teamwork from everyone helping.”
Roberts also runs the pre-season. “I help people train for pre pre-season and when the sport is hard it is good to have a good mentality. To keep track of the game and have a good mindset will mean an even better outcome for the game when I am playing. A goal for me this year is to have a positive attitude towards new games to come.”
The team seems to be ready to dominate the season by having fun, hard conditioning, and great chemistry. With the whole team communicating, it will surely be an outstanding season this year.