Girls lacrosse prepares for playoffs
Taylor Young, Staff Reporter
Originally published May 3, 2016
Ruby Stauffer
Senior center Ellie Bergeron cradles the ball earlier this season against Tahoma High School. Bergeron has been playing lacrosse for eight years.
Senior Ellie Bergeron has played Lacrosse for eight years as center, which includes both attack and defense. In fifth grade, her family friend’s daughter played, and her parents decided they wanted Ellie to play too.
Bergeron quickly fell in love with the sport at a young age, and is now planning to play for Chapman University.
During practice, the girls warm up, perform stick drills and get in a few scrimmages.
“[Before a game] I get excited, but I do get nervous for our big games,” Bergeron said
Before a game, the girls listen to music, have a pre-game talk to get them hyped and do a special cheer. Everyone on the lacrosse team is friendly towards each other, creating a sense of family within the team.
During a game Bergeron says she just tries to focus her mind on having fun.
Not many people come to games, in part because it is a club sport, not connected to the Ballard Athletic Department.
However, Bergeron says there are benefits to being a club sport. “We aren’t really part of the school so we’re kind of different. We fund ourselves, so we get whatever money we put into it,” Bergeron said.
Lacrosse is a very intense sport for both girls and boys, requiring goggles, mouth guards, a stick, and cleats. But there are some differences. “The boys are a lot more physical, they like to hit each other. [Girls games are] pretty much a no-contact sport,” Bergeron said. “I like the girls game way better– I don’t think I would want to get beat up by sticks.”
During her sophomore year however, Bergeron did get a concussion from a girl who hit her in the head with a stick, which is not allowed, but things like that are not uncommon. “I try not to get frustrated at girls on the other team, because a lot of them can be really mean and try to do stuff that’s not really in the rules, so I try to be a better player than they are,” Bergeron said.
The girls currently have a 6-3-1 as their season record, and the girls’ main rivals are Roosevelt, and this year they’re really good.
Bergeron, Nell Baker and Sydney Page are performing especially well this season, with Bergeron scoring 40 goals, Baker 13 and Page 29.
In the next few weeks, they will find out if they make the playoffs.