Girls LAX

Photo courtesy of Christie Bonfiglio

by Dayton Flannery

Lacrosse is perhaps the oldest team sport in North America. It was a sport developed by the Native Americans to prepare for war. With each goal scored, men of different tribes brought glory and honor to their names. For hundreds of years it was played by men. The sport was thought to be too aggressive for women. But, since the late 1800s, women have represented their schools on lacrosse teams. This year, the Bronxville High School Girls Lacrosse team continues that tradition.

With the spring sports season coming up, some people might be wondering what our girls lacrosse team is looking like. Even I have been wondering how the varsity team will be after losing great players like Camilla Seirup, Vail Horn, and Carrie Poorman. But after watching the team practice, the season looks like it should go fine.

Coach Michael Bird has the girls on a well organized practice schedule. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but these girls have been training hard since the beginning of the winter season. Sophomore Megan Murray had this to say about their practices, “We always start with plyos, then yoga, and then shuttles…” Usually, following that, they practice offense and defense (7 vs. 7) to sharpen both ends of their game. Then the girls end their practices with different interval type runs. As you can see, these girls aren’t following an easy practice routine. Their coach has them doing all sorts of exercises to keep them in shape for the approaching season.

As for how the team will get along without last year’s stars, we’ll have to see. In the opinion of team captain and senior Caroline Harris, they should do fine with the team they have. “It’s a big loss for us…but I think we’re going to make do without them.” Among last year’s seniors who are missed was the incredibly fast and agile offensive player Vail Horn. According to Caroline, however, there are some new girls on the team who are showing some great talent and the team should be able to have a great season.

The only thing to stop our girls from pursuing their desired record is the new and very competitive league in which they have been placed. To start off the season, the Broncos are facing Horace Greeley and Pearl River for their first two games. Each and every game this season should be quite the test for the lax squad but I have been assured that Coach Bird intends all of their games to be just as trying for the other teams.

I have also been guaranteed that the girls are planning on utilizing their strengths to be the best team possible. “We get along really well…,” says Megan Murray. The girls have also shown great strength in their transition from defense to offense. With a team this fast you will be sure to see a lot of fast breaks for the goal. Hopefully, their strengths will come in handy during tough games this year.

With a challenging season nearing its beginning everyone should be ready to watch some great lacrosse. After all of this hard work and with what seems to be a confident team, I’m sure that the Girl’s Varsity Lacrosse team won’t let us down.