When thinking about sports that are similar, lacrosse and field hockey might come to mind, as the sports often get confused with one another.
“People think they’re similar…But they’re very different…Field hockey, your stick is on the ground, lacrosse you’re in the air,” Allyson Christopher (11) said.
The change of playing in the air or on the ground causes the sports to have very different speeds.
“Field hockey is slower paced because you’re hunched over, but lacrosse is much faster paced because of the ball constantly being in the air,” Christopher said.
Playing a sport is already a lot of work for many athletes, but when you put two or more sports on top of it, there can be added difficulties.
“I have to refresh myself once the season starts…” Christopher said, “because I play a different sport every season, so I have to remind myself of the rules.”
Another difficulty of playing multiple sports can be the varying expectations from the coaches. Many coaches expect a lot from their players, and that it no different with the lacrosse coach Scot Seger and field hockey’s coach Jackie Neeley.
“She (Coach Neeley) expects a lot from us, but she is also very easy going…” Christopher said. “While Seger expects a ton…but he’s pretty understanding.”
The players have expectations for their coaches, too. They need someone able to lead the team and hold players accountable for the work they put into the sport.
“I expect a lot from my coaches. I’ve had coaches who would put you down or put a lack of work into it,” Melina Gredelj (12) said. “It’s very hard to succeed and win if you don’t have a coach that puts the work in and respects their players and their work ethic.”
Gredelj plays as a goalie for both field hockey and lacrosse. She decided to become a goalie her freshman year. The senior goalies needed someone to hand their legacy to, so they looked to Gredelj.
“They had me gear up a couple times to try it out,” Gredelj said. “For lacrosse, I just emailed the head coach and told them I wanted to be a goalie.”
Gredelj said that playing the same position in the two sports makes the transition between teams less mentally taxing because of the big mental game that playing goalie is.
“I don’t have to mentally down myself because I play this one position always, so I am able to focus on that one position,” Gredelj said.
On the other hand, playing two different positions doesn’t affect other players that much either.
“I don’t think it (playing different positions) really matters. It’s two different things,” Christopher said.
The biggest difference to the players, however, is the community created.
“I love field hockey — the team, community — everything about it,” Christopher said. “I love lacrosse the best because I feel like I’ve gotten better at it over the years, and the feeling of scoring and being with people I like on the team, I just love it.”
