BY MATT STOUT
Come early March, Tim Powers has the same conversation with many students.
In his search for new players, the Pelham girls lacrosse coach approaches athlete and non-athlete alike and asks them if they would be interested in playing the sport.
The usual response is, “Well, I don’t know anything about it.” Of course, Powers has one lined up, too.
“‘Well, so what?’” Powers asks them. “‘None of them knew anything about it when they came out day one, so you learn.’”
In the Pythons’ third-year as a varsity program, the recruitment strategy seems to be working.
As Pelham looks to improve upon consecutive 1-11 seasons this spring, it returns experience, speed and, most importantly, welcomes lots of players. With a program-high 58 girls suiting up, the Pythons, for the first time, will feature a full slate of JV games and, if other teams are enjoying the same growth, several freshman games to accommodate the 20 rookies who came out this year.
That all bodes well for a stronger varsity team, which, while young, should be able to withstand the loss of five 2006 graduates.
Seniors Meghan Harris, on attack; Kayla Kelly, in goal; and Danielle Golinski, on attack, are back, along with juniors Katie Bourque and Alicea Beaureguard to make up the Pythons’ core. Improving sophomores Nicole Golinski, Devon Lamoreux and Brittany Long should also contribute, Powers said, to a team that’s ready to learn from the lumps it took the last two years.
“Now is our chance to actually grow as a team because we have people who know how to play, and that gives a chance to everyone else to learn how to play,” said Kelly, who feels healthy after overcoming a broken leg two years ago and “trouble with (her) heart” that ended her season last spring.
“They couldn’t figure it out,” she said of the ailment. “Everything seems to be all set now ... And usually if I’m ready, the rest of the team gets excited. Other players have come up to me and said that, because if you have a goalie to back you up, they just get excited with that.”
It’s not the only thing generating a buzz around the team’s practices. As a squad, Pelham is faster than ever, Powers said, and the players have the work ethic to match. With their original Division III season-opener against John Stark postponed from Monday, April 9, the Pythons now are focusing on meshing all the parts together, the coach said, entering a scheduled game at Kingswood on Thursday, April 12.
“Usually you go through tryouts and the practices and the preseason and everything, and you get a few that say, ‘OK, all right, I’m not going to do it,’” Powers said. “But there hasn’t been one. They’ve dedicated themselves to doing it. But stick skills aren’t going to be the only thing that translates into playing. They have to learn and understand the game as well.”
Fortunately for Pelham, there probably hasn’t been a better environment to do it in.