With the east girl’s varsity lacrosse team losing 14 seniors next season, the importance of gaining and maintaining members through the youth program grows.
Breaking the record for the year, East Varsity Girls Lacrosse goalie Abbey Upton now holds East’s all-time save record.
Upton started her lacrosse journey in second grade and, through ups and downs, has stuck with it due to the communal nature of the team.
“My brother was the one who got me into lacrosse in the first place,” Upton told Spark. “I am very close to my family. They are my biggest supporters.”
However, Upton said that she did not always enjoy lacrosse as much as she does now, mainly because of team dynamics.
“I did not really enjoy it until I joined a summer team in second grade,” said Upton. “Meeting girls from other schools and getting to know everyone made me realize that it was actually a fun sport. Lacrosse connected us all.”
This connection between team members was heavily emphasized by East Girls Varsity Lacrosse head coach Jock Roeder going into the 2025 season.
“Developing team chemistry and culture is always the biggest challenge,” Roeder told Spark “That was my primary focus when I got here.”
Throughout the season’s many team-bonding activities, Upton reports being able to feel the improvements.
“We are always there for each other,” said Upton. “We have each other’s backs.”
Hosting bonding activities, from team sleepovers to go-kart racing, has helped the team’s chemistry, according to Roeder.
“We used our fundraising money to spend an evening at THE WEB, pizza, games, unlimited go-kart rides, then we attended the youth game as a team,” said Roeder. “When we go there, we have our East gear on and that is what the kids see.”
Of the 29 total varsity players, Upton is one of only 15 members who is not a senior. This makes recruiting from East’s youth lacrosse program vital.
“What makes East different [from other schools] is their youth program,” said Roeder. “They are just teaching them the right things over here. I see that the basics are better understood.”
Upton, who is one of the members active in the youth program, most enjoys “giving lessons to little goalies who are wanting to grow.”
Lakota Lacrosse Club, taking players from both East and West ages K-8, hosts off-season events to get younger members interested in playing on a high school team.
Former head coach of Lakota Lacrosse Club’s middle school program Jim Wallbank is currently the director of girls lacrosse at Headlines Lacrosse, where their summer programs work to achieve the same goal.
“[Lakota Lacrosse Club] has fun practices in the fall and we encourage the high school players to help out,” Wallbank told Spark. “The free fall practices are a good way to get kids to show up and get them interested.”
Having older team members participating in the programs not only helps the younger players to hone in on basic skills, but is especially valuable for giving them positive examples to model themselves after.
“We send seven or eight high school players to those practices so the kids can start seeing how they play,” said Roeder. “Younger kids start looking up to our players.”
There seems to be a consensus on the positive impact of the program according to senior varsity attacker Isabella Fischer.
“It seems like we are going to get a good collection of girls from 8th grade, so I am not too scared about losing the seniors,” Fischer told Spark. “I think I have done my part in educating the youth about it through the program.”
Despite the emphasis on hard skills in the training program, the players’ abilities are not the most important factor in making a strong team, according to Roeder.
“What every good team has in common is resilience more than anything,” said Roeder. “I do not expect them to be perfect, they are going to make mistakes, but what matters is how you come back from it.”
After the team’s first loss of the season, that word was plastered on the board in the locker room with the definition written under it.
“We have a competition in our off season called AEH Cup, which stands for attitude, effort, and hustle,” said Roeder. “That is our mantra. Nowhere in there does it mention skill.”
This attitude aims to improve team morale and chemistry.
“I think there is a different level of motivation at East,” said Fischer. “It is something that you will not get on any other team.”
This sense of community is what draws players to team sports according to Roeder, so fostering positive, team-oriented attitudes was a main focus of this season.
“We try to have team bonding activities and focus on that,” said Roeder. “They join a team because they want to be part of the culture and community, not to break records.”
