Lacrosse has grown in popularity in recent years for men and women due to the rising number of scholarships offered to play in college, resulting in 36,00 athletes who play lacrosse at a college level, according to Game Breaker.
This rising popularity can be shown through the 2017 JV boys lacrosse team. The team began the season with most of their players not having any past lacrosse experience. For this reason, they knew they had a tough challenge ahead of them. However, they still stuck to their goals for the year to become a contending team.
“A huge goal is getting the chemistry to be like the better teams in the league. We want great communication, even with all the freshman and sophomores we have,” said sophomore Che Brenes.
As the preseason started, the team was able to put up a few good fights against non-league teams, but often fell short.
“The first part of the season was a little rough because we had so many new players, but our goal from the beginning was to become stronger which we have achieved so far,” said Hunter Hawkes, a sophomore.
Once the regular season started, the team faced tough opponents like Sacred Heart Prep and Burlingame. However, on April 6, Â the lacrosse team was able to progress, with their first win against Woodside.
“I feel like we definitely have the potential to finish strong if we have the right mindset and keep focused. Our goal is to finish second in the league.
— Hunter Hawkes
“The woodside win gave us a lot of confidence and showed that we can win games if we try hard enough,” said sophomore John Griesbach.
The woodside game proved to the JV lacrosse team how far they had come since the beginning of the year, and what they can achieve in the future.
“There has definitely been a difference since the beginning of the year, a huge difference. This was shown in our woodside game,” said Hawkes.
Since the beginning of the year, the team’s chemistry has grown and they have played more as a team, which was one of the main goals for the team in the beginning of the year.
They are now hopeful that they can end the season in a strong way and finish as one of the top two teams in their league.
“No doubt we starting out the year a little rough, but I think given time and more practice, we will develop more as a team and start winning,” said Brenes.
The lacrosse team will look to improve their record on April 27 against Burlingame High School at home.
