The Girls are Back in Town
The beginning of the women’s varsity season has been both exciting and challenging thus far. Our team has doubled in size from last years twelve players. This has been a very exciting progression for Missoula Elite Lacrosse as a whole. Word has spread fast in Missoula and lacrosse is becoming recognized in the state of Montana for being one of the most exciting sports to play! This has made both Coach Bona and myself very happy that we are able to teach the girls a sport that was once never recognized in Montana! Being able to be the first high school lacrosse coaches has had its challenges and rewards.
From what I have observed from the beginning of the season, many of the girls have picked up their sticks and learned very quickly. This has been very exciting because most of them have never seen a lacrosse stick in their entire lives. Many of the girls are young and athletic and suck in information like sponges. The returning players from last year have been extremely helpful with their fellow teammates, teaching them what they learned last year in our first season. As coaches, we are focusing on teaching the fundamentals of lacrosse. This is imperative for the beginning of the season because even the returning players have forgotten the basics. We are challenging them to learn the basics from offensive and defense positioning on the field, to cradling and catching and throwing. We are also teaching them advanced skills in lacrosse because they are able to learn things like this right fro the start! Our motto as coaches is teach the hard stuff first because they are able to learn it!
Spring break has also thrown us for a loop. We had to cancel our first game against Gonzaga Prep because many of the girls were away for spring break and still are. This was disappointing because last year we did not have the opportunity for so many games as we do this year. I am looking forward to having all the girls return from vacation and have our full team back. It is much easier for me as a coach to have all my players there ready and motivated for practice in preparation for our games! For a team to be solid, we need all the girls present in practice, willing to go the extra mile. Many of the girls have shown strong leadership roles and because of this we have elected team captains this year, Jill Lindbergh and Hannah Leonard. Both of these girls are returning players and seniors and I am excited to put them to work for the benefit of their team!
This weekend we have a scrimmage scheduled against the University of Montana women’s team. I am excited to see MEL’s women’s varsity team be challenged by the college. This game will be excellent preparation for our upcoming games. It will be a good learning process for the new girls to see how it feels to play in a real game and not just scrimmaging in practice. Some of our players will still be away on vacation during this game which is disappointing but we will have to make it work. Coach Bona and I are looking forward to a great season and hopefully many W’s this season! It is our goal as the coaches to challenge our players to their utmost ability! We know they are up for the task! Stayed tuned for more posts. Thanks. Coach Fahy
