lacrosse – The Eloise Diaries

I wanted to write you ever since our car drove away Sunday morning. It was a perfect game day- the sun was bright, the air felt especially crisp and smelled a perfect mix of flowers and that incredible smell of grass that reminds us older folks of our youth spent on fields. While we drove away I was filled with regret that I was missing your game, and didn’t get the chance to speak to you all, to hug and hive five each and every one of you. I missed a chance to tell you just how much what you’re achieving, working toward, sweating for, sacrificing for, and playing for means to others.

I know none of you know who I am, why should you? I graduated in 2002, and please don’t sit there too long thinking about what you were doing in 2002… I know… it was 15 years ago. But I too played lacrosse for the Generals. I was a defender and two-time captain. I shared that locker room, spent too much time in a much grosser weight room, ran that track, taped my bruised body in that training room, and wore the same blue and white.

I lived and breathed the sport growing up in Alexandria, VA, and probably much like you, I chose W&L as a way to play in college while also having some balance in my life that I feared a D1 school couldn’t provide. My freshman year I spent a good bit of time in the training room even by fall ball. Ankles tapes, legs wrapped, ice baths. I will never forget during that first month, however, sitting on a training table and a guy plopped down.

“What sport do you play?” he asked.

“Um, lacrosse. Women’s lacrosse” I stammered.

“Oh, club sport, right?”

As if my glare could pierce his face, I looked him in the eyes and said “Nope” and limped off.

I knew in that moment this wasn’t my high school anymore where the women set the records and had the stature. The women had come so far at W&L to establish a great team by 1998, but I knew then we women had more work to do. I remember thinking that what happened in the past didn’t matter, it was up to us now to change how women’s lacrosse was perceived. We gave it everything we had- we won often enough those first two years, we practiced late, we pushed our bodies to their extremes. We limped around campus, trying to achieve the level of success only the men so far had known in the sport. To me, with 15 years of distance from my last game, I truly feel we moved the proverbial ball forward for the sport in Lexington. Following our four years, more recruits came, more teams found success, and there were more awards bestowed on W&L. Each set of classmates wanted to go further, achieve more, and make a bigger name for women’s lacrosse on campus. We have all felt equally proud to wear that uniform, and watching your current success, I’ve never been so proud of what every year of women’s lacrosse accomplished. Each and every woman that played helped this program get where it is today. Even if it was just enough success that it attracted your beloved Coach to consider moving there and take you to where you are right now.

I know it’s been hard for you girls. I remember what it takes to be a General. Practices after full days of classes, night games right before you have an 8am test or paper due. We spent an inordinate amount of time on a bus to Florida every year, never made it to a Fancy Dress ball, watched our friends board buses to Foxfield while we boarded our own bus to a game. Spring break was spent in town, winter break was spent at home attempting to tackle the workout program.

I know the countless things you have missed, the parties, dates, even quiet time after classes. I know what it takes to cram for exams on a bus that well… you know… smells like a bus. Spring in Lexington is also wildly wonderful. It’s also incredibly hard to stay focused on something that you feel not everyone understands. Most of my best friends didn’t play a sport and hadn’t even seen lacrosse before they met me.

Staying focused right now is an important test. Maybe one of the hardest yet in your young lives. I see that, I respect that, and don’t ever think that you’re alone in feeling that way.

All of this sacrifice, all of this time dedicated to your team, to this sport, to the Generals… I’m here to tell you it’s worth it. It’s always been worth it for me. Of all of the things I did while at Washington and Lee, and since then in my adult life, playing lacrosse and giving it all I had is one of the most important things I’ve ever accomplished. And what I wouldn’t give to be able to do it all again…

So, my fellow Generals, enjoy every moment of this post season ride. Enjoy the practices, the time spent together on that field, in the locker room, and be proud of your dedication. Do not forget be grateful for this time you have together as a team. Know that I am with you every step of the way, watching you online and wearing my blue as often as I can. And don’t ever forget to listen to Coach… she’s world class… and also my friend.

Again, I am so proud of each and every one of you.

GO GENERALS!! PROVE IT!!!

With all my love,

Eloise

priest11

I got word this week that I’ll be inducted this year into the Washington and Lee (W&L) Hall of Fame for lacrosse. Whoa. First thought…God I’m that old, aren’t I? Second thought…I am beyond honored. I’m humbled and it makes me long for those days. Although I feel I’ve lived three decades during the past one, I still vividly remember what it was like to be a part of that team. To prepare for a game. To stand on the field right before it started. To size up who I was guarding. I remember what game days felt like and even the night before. To prepare for a game was as much mental as it was physical. Not to mention my superstitions. I was always supremely proud to play during college. No matter what we missed in terms of parties or functions or how long we’d spend on a bus driving to Florida… I loved it. I truly loved it.

I don’t want to wax poetic too much, but playing lacrosse both in high school and in college truly shaped who I am. From a young age, I remember wanting to be good. Wanting to be great even. When I got to high school, I wanted our famous coach and my teammates to respect me. So I worked hard, like we all did for our coach and for each other. Just like in the infamous sports movies we all love, 2nd place was unacceptable at St. Stephens/ St. Agnes. We competed on a national and international level. When I was a junior, we were undefeated and national champions. And at 16…. that kind of success felt pretty nice. I think I still have that green jacket that had those achievements embroidered on the chest. It was a great high. Yet it taught me that to achieve that kind of success, you really had to work hard at your craft. Dedication was everything. It didn’t hurt that playing was the most fun thing I’d experienced in sports. I loved the beauty of the game. That it was a bit exclusive…not everyone had a team back then.

Onto college. Attending Washington and Lee felt like a dream. From the first hour on campus during my visit, I knew it’s where I would go. The fabled school that I grew up hearing about from my grandfather seemed almost too good to be true. A place where honor and a speaking tradition flourished within a tiny Virginia town. A place where you could leave all your doors unlocked. During the years, some classmates felt the school too small, too tucked away. I never did. I love that town and our school as much as I love my huge crazy current city of New York. It really felt like home.

I remember our first lacrosse meeting in those old classrooms in the athletic building the fall of freshman year. The anticipation of playing in college and the excitement of meeting this group who I’d share my favorite thing left me with horrible butterflies. I remember easing into fall ball felt awkward. To learn how to play with new people. To adjust to a different way of doing things. But there on that field, my love for the sport grew in new and different ways. Through injuries, struggles, I feel that I slowly matured. I became even more dedicated. I learned to love more than just winning. I learned to love the game more.

Playing those four years was one of the most important things I did there. I’d say THE most important, but obviously education and my best friends rank alongside it. We missed dances, horse races, parties. What we gained though…you can’t explain to someone who didn’t play college sports for four years. You gain a sisterhood far and above what a sorority offers. You gain discipline, dedication, patience, and it’s where I learned that I loved leading and teaching. And from my high school years where I was accustomed to winning, I had to learn how to lose. I had to learn how to swallow that particular type of pain. We didn’t lose all the time, but we weren’t number one in the division. We weren’t undefeated. But we absolutely wanted to be. That made us work for it. And it was a unique lesson.

Washington and Lee is THE most special place on this Earth to me. If you went there…you get it too. There is a charm to those hills. There is a love for the people we met there, the fields we played on there, the rivers we floated down there. Representing the school by wearing Generals on your jersey was an honor. Now to be honored by the school for playing… I am elated.

When we had Landon, our expectations had to be reset. Not majorly, but in order for her to have a truly “normal” life, we’d have to work at it. I have to manage my emotions, I have to dig for strength when I learn about or contemplate her surgeries. I am learning still to accept the new reality and move on from mourning what we thought would be. I am celebrating everything she is and championing her special needs. The teacher and leader in me is researching and learning how to let her excel in every way. I know in my heart that attending the schools I did and playing lacrosse for them made me more capable to be this kind of mother. And playing lacrosse for W&L prepared me in such unique ways to face all that we will as a family. I hope this post can in some small way honor what the sport and the teams I was a part of gave me.

The Hall of Fame induction is on Landon’s first birthday. That seems to be the most fitting day of the year to me.

xoxo

eloise

Tag: lacrosse

Dear Generals

For love of the Game