Randolph College Women's Lacrosse Volunteers at Second Annual LAX-4-Alzheimer's Event

           It has been an exciting start to our fall ball season! In addition to starting fall ball practices, we had the opportunity to volunteer at a local private school. Virginia Episcopal School hosted its second annual charity event, LAX-4-Alzheimer’s, on September 21^st, 2014. At this event, over 100 players participated, representing twelve middle and high school teams from Lynchburg, Roanoke, Forest, Lexington, Salem and Rustburg (Statistics from VES newsletter). All proceeds from this event contributed to researching the cure for Alzheimer’s. Randolph College Women’s Lacrosse participates every year because we believe that spreading the awareness of Alzheimer’s is extremely important, and we enjoy volunteering in our community.

            The LAX-4-Alzheimer’s event consists of a tournament that is refereed and coached by college players, including the Randolph College Women’s Lacrosse team. The tournament itself allows for each team to participate in four games, lasting thirty minute each, with the opportunity to be invited to play in the All-Star game at the conclusion of the tournament. It was amazing to see how many teams attended this event and participated in the tournament, for the purpose of raising awareness of Alzheimer’s, as well as the unique opportunity for college players to be in a coaching position.

            We really enjoyed the opportunity to work with the girls from the community who share the love of the game. These girls have varying experience, ranging from girls who have never played before, to girls who have played their entire high-school careers. We enjoy working with the teams as a whole, focusing on field awareness and the learning of all the field positions. Participating in this helps us learn to break down the game and remember the fundamentals of the sport.

While coaching, our team is not only able to help each girl improve her skills in lacrosse, but is also able to connect with each player personally. As a result, the Lax-4-Alzheimer’s event helps our team foster relationships with young players in the community. We hope to challenge them to be better at the sport, while they challenge us as we learn to be better coaches and leaders. Carrie McCain ’16, a native of the Lynchburg area, had the opportunity to coach a girl who plays at her former high school. She stated, “I really enjoyed bonding with one of the girls from my local high school. With the help of some girls from our team we coached her and were able to help her be more confident in her lacrosse skills. As the day went on you could see her build confidence on the field. She was also really fun to talk to and is just an example of the great girls we have the chance to meet at this event.”
            The experience is a great way to become involved with the community and is something our team looks forward to every year. This year was a great success! It is a humbling experience that shows how sports can help make a difference and be used for opportunities to grow awareness of diseases like Alzheimer’s. We want to thank Virginia Episcopal School for allowing us to participate in this day. Our team not only is able to volunteer for a great cause but, is also able to bond with young athletes and each other for the day. This is our second year that we were able to make a great memory, and have a lot of fun, while raising funds to go to Alzheimer’s research.

 Pictured above is everyone who participated in the LAX-4-Alzheimer’s event. The event raised $2,500 for the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (Quoted from VES newsletter).

Written by: Carrie McCain ’16 and Chelsea Marciniak ‘17

2014 Seniors: What being a senior means to them

We have four seniors this year on the Randolph Women’s Lacrosse team; Melanie Eiselie, Ashley Edwards, Sammie Maggard and Nushaa Kaz. We have been through so much these last four years, that it’s hard to believe that it’s coming to an end. We’ve had up’s and down’s but we have created a bond that is irreplaceable. Sammie said it best, “Once you run together, sweat together, work hard together, and play together for four years as a Randolph College Women's Lacrosse player, you stay together and that is one of the most rewarding aspects of my collegiate experience thus far.” We know that we are leaving Randolph with sisters. We are sisters ready to protect and support each other in any situation; we are one unit on and off the field and that’s more than we ever would’ve expected when we were making the life-changing decision to come to Randolph College. 

  Being a senior gives us even more of an incentive to give it our all during this last season. We have been working hard the last three years so we need to leave this college with a bang. As we get ready for our last “first practice” of the season, we are going to remember all of the memories we have hoarded throughout the last three seasons and we are going to strive to make it our best one yet. The bond we have helps motivate us to push ourselves to our limit, and then keep on going. Being seniors, we have spent much time reflecting on our experiences during our tenure at Randolph and we realize how much we have grown; but what’s so special about being on this team is that we have been able to grow together. We’ve proved time and time again that we are strong, independent, hard-working, reliable and dedicated women that give all that we have to this lacrosse team. No matter what challenges we face, we all know that we are facing it together and that makes us feel invincible.   

 This season will be bittersweet for all of us; the four of us have seen this team grow so much and it will be hard to let that go and pass down the torch. We have been a part of this program since the very beginning and we’ve invested so much time and effort into making each year better than the last. We are faced with the exciting emotions of finally being the oldest ones on the field with the most experience under our belts, but we are also the sad emotions of it being our last season but we work hard not only for ourselves, but for one another and this season will be no different for us. We have a strong group of women on this team and we all know that we have the ability to accomplish our goals. As seniors, we are leaders and we hope to lead our team by being hard-working, positive and determined. We intend to leave our mark on this program; we are so excited for what 2014 has in store for us!

 

Seniors after their last "first practice" of the 2014 season

Written by: 2014 Seniors : Melanie Eiselie, Ashley Edwards, Sammie Maggard, and Nushaa Kaz

3rd Annual Fall Classic is a Success

On November 3rd, Randolph College Women’s Lacrosse hosted a Fall Classic for middle and high school players in the area. The field was divided in half and two 7v7 games were played simultaneously with twelve minute halves. Each team played four games and after all of the games were played there was an All-Star game. We all had such a hard time choosing the players from each team because everyone played amazing!  

We acted as coaches and referees throughout the day, which was a great opportunity for us to interact with some of the local, high school players. Nushaa Kaz '14 as well as Ashley Edwards '14 even conducted a clinic for the middle school players in between the games, it was a great way for the younger players to learn stick tricks and drills that we do in our everyday practices.

                 Nushaa Kaz ’14 & Ashley Edwards ’14 with their team

  

 Since we are usually playing, we rarely have the opportunity to coach or referee which was a new experience for our first-years. This classic not only allowed for community players to come together to play lacrosse but also allowed all of us to enjoy a beautiful day of being a part of the sport we love and give back to the community.

Being first-years ourselves, we enjoyed this event immensely because of the opportunity it gave us to spend time with our college teammates as well as some of the lacrosse players in central Virginia area. Many of us came from high schools from up north, so meeting some of the local players at this event as well as the Alzheimer’s Event we participated in earlier in this fall, was an amazing experience.

  Melanie Eisele ’14 from PA giving a half time talk to her high school team

  

Chelsea Marciniak ’17, stated, “I loved seeing these girls come out to play and appreciate the game I love as well. It felt good to be a strong leader on the field for them that day- knowing that I influenced their lacrosse experience.” As a team, we strive to build a bond between lacrosse players locally. As the Randolph College Women’s lacrosse team we always want to be a great example and support for the local community of young lacrosse players. We love the days where we are able to give back to them and the Fall Classic was a great way to serve them. It was a great day full of community and great lacrosse!

Written by Alyssa Unmberger 17’ and Chelsea Marciniak 17’