(This is the latest in a series of entries by guest bloggers throughout the high school spring sports season. Stamford High senior Emily Powers, a starting defender for the school’s two-time state championship field hockey team, is playing lacrosse this spring though she had never picked up a stick before and the program is still competing on the JV level. She will tell you why and document the experience.)
By Emily Powers
Dedication is important in any sport. But to remain dedicated to a team that last season did not win a game is something I find inspiring.
Last Friday our lacrosse team won its first game ever, at Trumbull, in the program’s two-year history. The look on the coach’s face after our 6-5 win was something to remember for a long time.
But what really caught my attention was the fact that this was the FIRST win. I’ve built seasons around wins and losses for quite some time now, and I’ve noticed that the more a team loses, normally the dedication and work ethic begin to drop.
Not with this team. These girls have now been on the team for two straight seasons and went into this one with expectations just like last year.
Then they realized with a little hard work and a lot of dedication to becoming better at the sport, we could achieve a win.
And that is just what we did.
Luckily that win came in the third game of the season, after two losses to the FCIAC’s finest lacrosse programs, Greenwich and Darien.
The victory, though, was proof enough to feel that we can actually win a couple more. The season is going to be rocky and we don’t expect much, but the expectations just got a little higher from our coaches and, more importantly, ourselves.
Now the entire attitude of the team has changed, especially when approaching games. Its just amazing to me that so many of the girls stayed dedicated to the program, the practices, the coaches, and the team when it’s pretty well known that we aren’t supposed to do well.
The girls stuck to the idea that they would slowly but surely improve the program, and slowly but surely that is happening.
Keep up the great work ladies–I have watched your team play twice now and am impressed with your grit, determination and hard work. It is not always about the W’s and L’s, working together as a team to build a program will be one of the most memorable times in your life. Enjoy it and savor it. You will be an inspiration to the girls that follow you. Remember “if you build it they will come”