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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — When spring rolled around this year, there were a few girls at Glenwood Springs High School who wanted to play a sport but didn’t know which.
Then they found lacrosse — a sport recently added to Glenwood Springs High School. While some people would be deterred from a team that was in its first year of existence, these girls love it. It gave them a chance to be involved with something, to be part of a team when they didn’t know where else to go.
“I needed a spring sport because I have been cheerleading so I want to stay in shape,” said 2008 freshman Casey Anderson. “Another reason I wanted to join the team was since it is a new sport, there is no worry that I wouldn’t make it. In soccer and tennis all that, they cut. So here it is just like, OK, I am on varsity.”
Anderson is a fairly small girl, but don’t let her appearance fool you. She was instantly drawn to lacrosse for one reason.
“I like the aggressiveness. I like to check people,” she said.
Even though all the girls were new to the sport this season, they quickly got it down thanks to the coaching of Michele Ziccardi. Ziccardi, an English teacher at Glenwood Springs High School, is a longtime player and coach who has not only coached at the high school level but was also an assistant coach at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.
Ziccardi arranged for the team to borrow equipment to give to the girls to see if they liked playing before they committed to buying all of it, as it can be expensive.
“The Lacrosse Outreach Society really helped us,” she said. “They sent us goalie equipment, eye gear for them and stuff for the girls who weren’t quite sure.”
While the gear helped get the team going, most of the girls bought their own and are now hooked on the sport. The boys team, which just completed its fourth year as a club team and will be joining the girls as Demons next year, are equally as dedicated.
In fact, the Glenwood Springs boys coach, Greg Schroeder, sees enough potential in participant numbers that he is already thinking about getting kids playing before high school.
“Our next big focus will be to develop the feeder programs at the elementary and middle school levels,” he said. “To be competitive with the Denver and Front Range teams, which is the ultimate goal, we need to have kids that are playing for a few years before high school.”
Then they found lacrosse — a sport recently added to Glenwood Springs High School. While some people would be deterred from a team that was in its first year of existence, these girls love it. It gave them a chance to be involved with something, to be part of a team when they didn’t know where else to go.
“I needed a spring sport because I have been cheerleading so I want to stay in shape,” said 2008 freshman Casey Anderson. “Another reason I wanted to join the team was since it is a new sport, there is no worry that I wouldn’t make it. In soccer and tennis all that, they cut. So here it is just like, OK, I am on varsity.”
Anderson is a fairly small girl, but don’t let her appearance fool you. She was instantly drawn to lacrosse for one reason.
“I like the aggressiveness. I like to check people,” she said.
Even though all the girls were new to the sport this season, they quickly got it down thanks to the coaching of Michele Ziccardi. Ziccardi, an English teacher at Glenwood Springs High School, is a longtime player and coach who has not only coached at the high school level but was also an assistant coach at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.
Ziccardi arranged for the team to borrow equipment to give to the girls to see if they liked playing before they committed to buying all of it, as it can be expensive.
“The Lacrosse Outreach Society really helped us,” she said. “They sent us goalie equipment, eye gear for them and stuff for the girls who weren’t quite sure.”
While the gear helped get the team going, most of the girls bought their own and are now hooked on the sport. The boys team, which just completed its fourth year as a club team and will be joining the girls as Demons next year, are equally as dedicated.
In fact, the Glenwood Springs boys coach, Greg Schroeder, sees enough potential in participant numbers that he is already thinking about getting kids playing before high school.
“Our next big focus will be to develop the feeder programs at the elementary and middle school levels,” he said. “To be competitive with the Denver and Front Range teams, which is the ultimate goal, we need to have kids that are playing for a few years before high school.”
Lacrosse at Glenwood Springs High School
On Wednesday, the Glenwood Springs Lacrosse Club’s proposal for its boys and girls teams to join Glenwood Springs High School as a varsity sport sanctioned by the Colorado High School Activities Association was approved by the Roaring Fork Re-1 School District.
They will begin playing as Demons starting in the spring of 2009. If you are interested in playing for the boys team or want more information, contact head coach Greg Schroeder at gregwschroeder@gmail.com. If you are interested in playing for the girls team or want more information, contact head coach Michele Ziccardi at mziccardi@rfsd.k12.co.us. For more information on Glenwood lacrosse, go to www.glenwoodspringslacrosse.org |
