I never imagined that part of my daughter’s high school education would include training her to be a warrior.  With the help of coaches Kate Twichell, Casey Lamp, Mike Peters and Erynn O’hara she is a formidable player on the Portage Women’s Lacrosse (PWLAX) JV squad.  Over the years we introduced her to gymnastics, tennis and diving. But n the Spring of 2018 she came home and said “I think I wanna play Lacrosse.” Gulp, I had never seen a lacrosse game.  Initially, I thought it would be a good chance to do some knitting in the stands. I was so wrong.

Women’s lacrosse is designed to be elegant and fast paced; depending more on skill and teamwork without the brute force present in men’s lacrosse.  Players wear wire goggles, colorful mouth guards and carry sticks with nets on the ends for catching, shooting and passing the ball. The players look fierce and focused using their stick to block, defend and shoot.  

Without enough female players in either of the Portage District High Schools they have combined to create Portage Women’s Lacrosse.  This means the girls meet kids from both Portage Northern and Portage Central High School and the friendships help them to feel at home on both campuses.  Fields from each school are called upon for use in practices and games. This year we are enjoying the new Huskie Stadium for our home games while the Central Field is under construction.  The teams color scheme borrows one color from each of the districts high schools; orange (Northern) and navy (Central). Each girl becomes a member of US Lacrosse and enjoys a subscription to their magazine which connects them to the broader Lacrosse community including college level competition.

The sport is well known on the east coast where it has been played for hundreds of years. A lot of people (myself included) considered lacrosse a rich white game; however lacrosse has important Native American origins.  Native American cultures believe the game is given to them by the Creator and is considered medicine. Many native kids grow up with a stick in their hand and play lacrosse throughout their childhood. In Michigan, the game is less well known and US Lacrosse holds various clinics and events to help grow the game.  

This year, there are some exciting developments in the design of lacrosse sticks that will help new players become better ball handlers from their very first game.  Like my daughter, many PWLAX players have had no previous exposure to the game and are given expert coaching to become valuable team members by their second or third game. Watching my daughter grow in skill, confidence, strength and love for the game has made sitting in the cold stands worth every minute.