While lacrosse is a spring sport, teams are able to have a month-long season in the fall called fall ball. This is a short period where you are able to get all of the new members of the team adjusted in the way that things are done at your school. For the first time, we have two transfer students who have played at other schools plus there are seven freshmen that are new to college lacrosse. One of the hardest things about fall ball is teaching all of the freshmen how to play college lacrosse because it is a very different sport compared to high school. Many of the girls have a very easy transition but sometimes, it will take some girls the extra help to figure it out but all of the upperclassmen are always willing to help anyone out.
Once everyone arrives at school, we start with the conditioning and some stick skills. We will get put into
two groups, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This allows girls to go at a time that will work with their schedule. After about two weeks of conditioning four times a week, we will start practicing and going to lifting. On Monday and Friday, we wake up at 6 a.m for practice, it is very early but at the same time it is very nice to get practice over for the day. Additionally, we have practice on Saturday and Wednesday. Then, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, we have lifting, giving us our only off day as Sunday. We are able to practice as a team for four weeks and are allowed to play one game during this time.
Over the weekend, we played our game against a division two team in Michigan. We knew that this was going to be a hard game but everyone was very excited to play. We started off the game very strong and were up by two goals most of the game. Throughout the game, the score was going back and forth but at the end, they were able to beat us by two points. While losing is not fun, our whole team felt that the score did not reflect our team's performance. Everyone on the team was able to get in at some point which is nice for all of the freshmen who are able to play in a game before our real season. This helps people get a feel of different rules between high school and college. Overall, the trip up to Michigan was very fun and will allow our team to grow as we finish up fall ball for this year.
Adjusting to a college sport is definitely a challenge for some people. I know for myself even the transition for grade school to high school sports was hard for me. Getting new teammates is always a struggle until you become adjusted and find your groove. Sorry about your loss, but your team will learn from it and will know where to improve for the real season. Good luck this year!
ReplyDeleteSydney, I know exactly how hard it is to transition from high school to college. It so fun to meet the new freshman and transfer players and make even knew friends. It sounds like your Fall ball is just as hard as softball if not harder. I always love playing with new teammates and seeing how great everyone can do! I hope you guys do amazing in the Spring!
ReplyDeleteSydney, I loved reading your blog! Having two transfer students and 7 new freshman join your team must be so fun. I used to play volleyball in high school and one of my favorite parts of the season was getting to bond and make more friends with the new teammates!
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