The Spring Season marks a time of new opportunities to grow and improve while striving for many obtainable goals with Aliso Niguel’s Girls Lacrosse team taking full advantage of this as they chase their goals of competing well with their league against the many opponents they have to face while also qualifying for the California Interscholastic Federation League a huge finishing goal that almost every sports team strives to reach.
Currently, the Girls Lacrosse team has a League record of 1-2, a good start after going against tough opponents like Tesoro High School and San Clemente High School, with more to come, including San Juan Hills High School and Trabuco Hills High School. However, the team is likely to overcome these obstacles.
When asked how the season was going, the Varsity Head Coach, Ms Emi Honda, said: “It’s going alright, we have lost a few of our games against the teams we have gone against, but I am still optimistic about our performance in League this year.”
The Girls Lacrosse team has been working hard this season, with them continuing to hone their skills as well as their collaboration as a team through drilling and time to bond with one another, all to dominate within their league against their opponents, especially as the season slowly ramps up towards their league finals.
When asked how they will improve the team this year, Coach Honda said: “ A lot of the drills we do focus on stick work and control of the ball to get better chances to pass or score, and we work on ball handling drills to quickly pick up the ball when it is loose on the ground.”
There are still challenges this team needs to overcome this season if they want to go far within their league. Some of these challenges are preventing injury or illness that forces them not to play, and teamwork that allows them to successfully run plays and coordinate much more, allowing many more opportunities to put points on the board and win.
Like many sports, girls’ lacrosse is a physically and mentally draining sport with common injuries occurring in the legs and shoulders, with the chance of ankle sprains and ACL tears being all too common within the sport. Balancing school can also be exhausting for the girls due to long homework nights and late evening practices, which can cause athletes to sometimes struggle to keep up. However, these girls are resilient and take proper steps to avoid these possibilities through stretching and time for relaxation.
Currently, the Girls Lacrosse team has many more games to look forward to, both within their league and outside of it, with their next games being against Mission Viejo High School on Mar. 30th, El Toro High School on Apr. 2nd and their next league match against San Clemente High School, giving them the chance to settle the score with them.
Hopefully, the Girls Lacrosse team can play well this season and go far within league play, all to compete within CIF.
