When the first weeks on March roll around I know that it’s time for spring sports to start. For me that means a brand new lacrosse season. I’ve been playing lacrosse since I was ten years old and it’s now one of my favorite things to do. Unfortunately last year when I was a freshman in high school I had two devastating injuries to both of my knees and because of my injuries I wasn’t able to run or exercise at all. These injuries meant I couldn’t play lacrosse and I knew that I would fall behind. Before my “lost season” I was a powerful attacker who played on the front lines and now because of missing last year I lost most of my stick skills and my super speed. Getting back on track certainly wasn’t an easy task and it took a whole lot of hard work and sweat to get back where I am today.

After I lost a whole season I decided that I wouldn’t be fast enough or be able to gain back all of the stick skills I had lost to play attack. I decided I would try to be a defender and little did I know that when I chose to be a defender it would be the perfect fit for me and change the way I saw lacrosse forever. I started training for the upcoming season in the fall when my knees injuries were finally cured and I was able to exercise again. I tried playing attack at first but I knew I was never going to be as good as I used to be and that there would be many more girls who were better than I was. I decided to step outside of my comfort zone and try something different, defense. Throughout my life in all of the sports I’ve played I have never been a defender because every single one of my coaches told me I was too small, and that attack was a better fit for me. At this point however, I knew I would never amount to anything greater then an average attacker because of my previous injuries. I thought I was going to be bad at defending and just have to be a second string attacker but as soon as I began playing defense for the first time something clicked. I realized that playing defense gave me a much more satisfying feeling then playing attack ever did and I knew I had found the perfect fit for me. Unlike attack I actually enjoyed playing defense and I wanted to play much more then I ever did. Although I knew defense was a good fit for me I knew there was still going to be a long road ahead for me before the upcoming season.

Before I could start the new season I still had a lot of obstacles to overcome. Since my goal was to be a starting defender in the upcoming season I had a ton of work to do and I had to put in long hard hours of practice to get better and better. One of the biggest obstacles I had to overcome was that I had to retrain my legs and my knees to the previous condition they had been in before my accidents. I had to go to physical therapy three times a week and stretch every morning and every night. In addition to physical therapy I also had to run on the treadmill or around my neighborhood every day leading up to the new season. When I started running in the fall my knees were in such bad shape that running a mile took twelve minutes for me. My ultimate goal was to run a seven-minute mile by the time the lacrosse season started. This goal took countless hours of sweat and hard work to accomplish. Balancing my schoolwork, physical therapy, work and running proved to be a great challenge. After six months of hard work and perseverance I finally ran a mile in six minutes and forty five seconds which exceeded my goal of seven minutes and proved I was ready for the upcoming season. My defense skills had also improved greatly from practicing on my own and with my sister who has taught me most of what I know about playing lacrosse. I finally felt prepared and was ready to take on the upcoming season head on.

My sophomore lacrosse season recently ended in May and I can honestly say it has been the best experience I have ever had playing a sport. I played as a starting defender and finally feel like I’ve found my true place on the field. The girls on my team were so supportive, loving and fun and I couldn’t ask for better girls to have had been teammates with this year. I have found a new passion and love for lacrosse that I’ve never had before and I believe that the injuries I suffered from were meant to be and without them I would never be where I am today. After the challenges and hard work it took to get back on my feet and reach my goals for this year I have become a firm believer that with determination, hard work and perseverance you really can accomplish any goals you set your mind to.