Athenian's Girl's Lacrosse Reaches NCS Playoffs

This spring, Athenian’s girls lacrosse team made history. After finishing the season 11-3, the team was eligible to play in the NCS playoffs for the first time.

Lacrosse is a fast-paced sport where players use sticks with netted heads to catch rubber balls and throw them into an opponent’s goal. Although the objective is the same, two key differences exist between girls’ and boys’ lacrosse. Boys’ lacrosse is a full-contact sport, meaning that body checking--making contact with another player with a stick--is legal. In contrast, girls’ lacrosse is non-contact, requiring players to defend using less aggressive measures. As a result, girls’ lacrosse players must ensure that their defense techniques stay within the rules. Another key difference lies in the sticks that the players use. While the sticks in boys’ lacrosse have deeper pockets, making it easier to control the ball, the girls’ sticks have shallower pockets, requiring greater precision to keep the ball secure. Due to these differences, many view girls’ lacrosse as the more technical version of the sport. 

“There have been a lot of highlights this year,” said senior team captain Barrett Smith. “It's the first year that we have won at least seven games and our highest scoring year yet. This is also the first time we are NCS eligible.”

This milestone has been years in the making. Founded in 2017 by a small group of students, Athenian’s lacrosse team has grown significantly since its founding. “The team was started nine years ago and was founded by a small group of students who were primarily from the class of 2019,” said head coach Mac Heebner. “They had a vision, put together a student proposal that was ultimately approved, and then launched the team. They found coach Susie Childs to help kick things off, who coached through the 2022 season. Kavi [Reddy] joined her in 2022. Susie left at the end of the 2022 season, and Kavi and I have been coaching together since 2023. This 2025 season, we will have our biggest squad in the history of the program.”

With Athenian’s no-cut policy, athletes of all skill levels are invited to join. “There are no experience requirements, as there is a no-cut policy on Athenian sports teams. This allows beginners as well as people who have been playing club to play on the same team. There are essentially people of every level,” said Barrett. “The expectations of being on the team just include showing up on time with the intention to focus on every practice and every game. Communication is crucial as well, so if you cannot show up to practice, you must communicate that. There is also the expectation to be willing to try things out and to always give your best.”

This year, however, while experience is not necessary, the goal of becoming NCS eligible meant higher expectations for players. “This year, especially because we are so goal oriented in terms of going to NCS, winning as many games as we can, and doing really well, there is a lot of pressure to go to practice every day and give 110% to the team every single day so that the team overall can thrive,” said self-proclaimed defense captain and current junior Scarlett Kelly.

With such a strong emphasis on attending practices, the team’s training has evolved over the years to ensure that their training time is used efficiently. “We have dialed in our practice structure over the last three years to maximize individual skill development, teamwork, and game readiness,” said Mac. “Practice officially kicks off with captain-led warmup and dynamic stretching. Coaches then review the practice plan, which is typically broken into three sections: organized full-team skill work, offense and defense group work focused on position-specific skills, and game simulation and intersquad scrimmage.”

Considering the new record that the team has set, their efforts have been paying off. However, there is also another factor behind the team’s success. “The chemistry of this year’s team is quite special. We are absolutely one team, from first year to fourth year. Day in and day out, they push each other. They support each other. They try to outperform each other. They communicate, encourage, and back up each other, and they make each other better. As coaches, we've had a front row seat as they've gone through the phases of team development–from forming, storming, norming, and now really performing as they pursue a historic year,” said Mac.

Junior Aryanna Ma echoed these sentiments. “We’re a very tight-knit group,” she said. “On the field, I play as a midfielder. Off the field, however, I really try to help build team chemistry and keep everyone connected because our team chemistry is a really important part of who we are.”

Despite all the success, some issues still exist, one of the prominent ones being student support at games. “I think that there could be more energy from the Athenian community surrounding the lacrosse team. I think that a lot of people or students don’t fully understand what lacrosse is or how it is played, and that deters them from being super interested,” said junior Grace Higgins. “This season has been our best season in school history, and it would be nice to recognize more of our accomplishments.”

Players also believe that the lack of engagement reflects a broader issue of support for women’s sports. Barrett said, “The other sport I play is volleyball, but I feel like they [lacrosse and volleyball] have similar popularity, which is still not a lot. Not a lot of people come out to support women’s sports teams at Athenian in general, so there is still room for more support.”

“Right now, most of the school only really shows up for men’s basketball games,” said Aryanna. “I think there’s a huge need for more support for women’s sports in general at Athenian.”