Intensity!

Tonight marked the end of a fun, eventful, and impressive season of the newest sport added to our family's repertoire:  lacrosse, or LAX.  Sarah decided in December that she wanted to play on the LAX team this year even though she'd never formally played before.  I went to the first informational meeting for parents and was impressed with the coaching staff and their philosophy: "We are building character girls."  We were happy to encourage her in this endeavour - building character is a good thing after all, and physical fitness  isn't a bad side benefit, right?   Conditioning started at the first of January and it was brutal.  Running, running, running, and more running!  I was proud of Sarah for sticking with it. It wasn't easy by a long shot, but she pushed herself hard and her hard work paid off.  She learned skills quickly and became very fast. She even recruited three other girls to the team. 

Games started in March, and the first one was a bit disappointing - they were soundly beat by the other team.  But, the coaches and team members took it as a learning experience, and quickly recognized skills needing improvement.  The very next game it was apparent that they had worked hard on those particular skills.  Before games, the players raise their sticks in the air and shout, "INTENSITY!"  The season progressed with much intensity at practices and at games.  The girls have improved a great deal and won many games, but overall, I am truly impressed that these girls really are "character girls".  They have really pulled together as a team and support each other 100% 

Many family members and friends came to games to support Sarah. I know it means a lot to her - and it's fun chatting with family and friends on the sidelines while we watch and cheer!  Thank you!

Unfortunately, as cute as it is, this is the only picture I have from this season.  I took a whole bunch of awesome shots tonight of Sarah racing down the field with the ball in her stick only to find out when we got home that the memory card was not in the camera.  Ugh!  I am so upset about that, but I hope that Sarah will play again next year so we can catch some great shots of her then. 

Sarah and her two friends, Ellery and Nataya at the Skyview game

Thanks, Sarah, for being brave enough to try a new sport, at a new school, with new people! That takes a lot of courage!  I admire you and am proud of you for your hard work and determination. Plus it was just darn fun watching you play!  Let's do it again next year!

INTENSITY!!!