Virginia has a long history of excellence in lacrosse, even when the popularity of the sport never extended much beyond the mid-Atlantic seaboard. Over the last decade, as lacrosse sticks began to cradle across the fields of the nation's athletics programs, the sport slowly has attracted more support and more fans. Amazingly, in a time when lacrosse teams across the nation try to gain NCAA eligibility, Virginia's own women's club team has almost played varsity caliber lacrosse.
In the last few years, the Cavalier team has stood up to varsity teams from William & Mary and Washington & Lee. Five permanent coaches run the club team from the Naval Academy. The Midshipmen, who are trying to gain entrance into the NCAA divisional system, already own two national club championships. In the last two years, the Virginia women's squad has beaten the NCAA-bound Navy crew four times, including two wins this fall in a tournament at Towson.
"It's really cool to beat teams like that because we don't have any coaches," third-year Cavalier attacker Lily Foote said. "It's cool to beat teams without coaches yelling down your throat."
Virginia comes in this season after being the first seed in their division at the club nationals last year, though they could not physically make it to the tournament. The team has already won the first tournament of this fall season in Towson, attended by 11 top club teams from the East Coast, and looks to repeat their top performance this weekend at Virginia Tech.
All of the team's success has come despite the lack of coaches. While other club teams rely on a professional teaching of lacrosse and game management, the women run strategy themselves.
"It's totally student-run," Foote said. "We don't have a coach, but we were seeded first in our division last year. That is a big accomplishment."
As with most other club sports, democracy and student self-governance rule the day. The team even lines its own lacrosse field for games.
"In the winter, we have people run for positions," Foote said. "We just organize the practices. We try to have every girl have input on the lineup. We try to get input on which drills we want to do and which games we want to play. We take our own cars up to a tournament. We raise money to pay for all the stuff."
Off the field, teammates are enthusiastic fans of the national championship winning varsity programs at Virginia and often brush their skills up against their men's club lacrosse counterparts.
"We go watch their games," Foote said. "We go watch the boys' games together. We mix with the boys' club team and sometimes we scrimmage against them."
The team plays regularly every weekend, at least in the competitive spring season, giving family and friends the chance to root for them.
"Usually we have a game on Sunday, or a tournament -- maybe not in the fall, but in the spring," fourth-year attacker Marit Spekman said.
Ultimately, it's the game of lacrosse that inspires the team and encourages their success on the field.
"Playing lacrosse gives us a chance to be out there with the team and actually be successful," Foote said. "It's competitive, but it's so much fun."
At a time when lacrosse is gaining popularity around the country, it's heartwarming to know Virginia's tradition of lacrosse dominance is alive and well in the club team too.
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