Normally, the Girls Lacrosse team would be charging through their season, deep into practices and competitions. Like every other sports team, though, they’re temporarily sidelined in the name of social distancing. A global pandemic can’t keep them from being a team, though, and Coach Kate Haffenreffer has done a great job keeping the teammates connected while they wait to play together again.
“I know how hard it has been on my team to not be with their friends and their teammates,” Coach Haff said. “So, I’ve been trying to keep them engaged and connected as best I can.”
The team was disappointed that their trip to Nashville over spring break was canceled, so they did the next best thing: create a playlist of their favorite country songs that included works by Brooks Jefferson, Rascal Flatts, Hunter Hayes and Rednex to pretend that they were there.
The players are participating in daily and weekly challenges, sharing photos of their progress on a group chat. Challenges have included running a mile, running a fartlek, and a Tabata workout (high-intensity interval training). Riley Oliver ’20 is perhaps the luckiest of the players; her sister Bridget ’18 is at home and available as a training partner!
They’ve also made lacrosse TikTok videos (where humor was encouraged) and dressed their pets up like MICDS laxers. The team is currently working on a challenge to create a passing video, where, even though they’re apart, the players are “passing” to each other. A team meeting using video conference software also helped the players check in with each other and stay connected.
Even when they’re not competing on the field, we think our Girls Lacrosse team is tops!