Lacrosse
LAX, Rips and Saves, Baskets and Sticks, Fastest Game on Two Feet
Curated By
Therese Basham
Therese Basham is an independent Marketing and Communications Consultant based in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition to being a stay-at-home mom to her lacrosse-playing son and daughter for the past twenty years, she has remained engaged as a free-lance marketing communications writer, photographer, and videographer. She recently joined the Association of Professional Photo Organizers and is now helping individuals bring order to their digital and physical photo and video collections. Therese is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where she studied marketing and psychology.
They Might Be Thinking:
- All of my friends are playing lacrosse, so I want to play, too.
- All of my friends play other sports, but I really like lacrosse. I hope they don’t give me a hard time about it.
- What if my parents are mad because they want me to play another sport?
- I hope I’m good enough.
- What if I don’t make the team?
- My parents never played lacrosse. How will they be able to help me practice?
- How should I get in shape to play?
- What position should I play?
- What equipment do I need?
- I’m worried about getting hit by the ball.
- I’m worried I might get hurt.
- What if I don’t get to play in the game?
- I hope my parents don’t embarrass me at the game.
- What if I make a mistake?
- I get so nervous during the games.
- I’m worried I might disappoint my parents.
- I’m worried I might let my team down.
- What if we lose this big game?
Words That Might Be Encouraging:
- Lacrosse looks like a really fun game - did you know it is called “the fastest game on two feet?"
- Do you need a ride to or from practice?
- What music do you listen to before a game to hype yourself up?
- Does your team have any fun pre-game ritual or chant?
- Would you like me to throw you the ball so you can practice catching?
- Let’s go find a good wall so you can practice some wall ball.
- Let’s make sure you have all of the right equipment and that your helmet and mouthguard fit properly. Second-hand stores have a great assortment of sticks and that would be a great way to try them out.
- I’ve heard that’s a really fun sport, but I’m not familiar with it. Tell me why you like it so much.
- Is there a lacrosse player that you admire? Tell me about him/her.
- I really enjoy watching you play. Or, I would really like to watch you play. When is your next game?
- Explain some of the rules that are unique to lacrosse.
- Tell me about your position.
- When you get nervous, focus on how much you love to play the game and how happy you are to be on the field.
- If you make a mistake, let it go and focus on the next play instead. Everybody makes mistakes; it’s how you respond that’s important.
- You can’t control everything, so just concentrate on doing your best.
- Don’t engage in negative self-talk. Keep it positive!
- I’m really proud of you for trying out for the team.
- I’m really proud of you for playing.
- I’m really proud of your effort.
- If you are unhappy about how much you are playing (or any other reason), why don’t you talk to your coach and ask for some constructive feedback?
- It’s really true that it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, as long as you try your best and exhibit good sportsmanship.
Words That Might Be Discouraging:
- I’ve heard that’s a dangerous sport. You shouldn’t play.
- Why do you want to play lacrosse? Nobody plays and I’ve never even seen a game.
- I’d rather watch you play another sport.
- Isn’t women’s lacrosse kind of slow?
- Did you make the team?
- Why didn’t you play in the game?
- I can’t believe you missed that catch/goal/save.
- Why did you take that shot? It was a critical miss.
- You weren’t hustling at all.
- Did you score?
- Is your team good?
- Your teammate(s) really let you down.
- I can’t believe your teammate messed up that play.
- I can’t believe your team lost that game.
- It’s too confusing. I don’t know the rules so I don’t understand what’s going on.
- Your coach doesn’t play the right players or call the right plays.
- Your coach is terrible.
- I’ll talk to your coach about why you aren’t playing enough (or any other topic).
- Your coach doesn’t know what he/she is doing.
- So-and-so shouldn’t be playing. He/she is awful.
- Well, your brother/sister made the team at your age.
- You’re the best player on the team.
- If the other team is playing dirty, you should play dirty too.
- I don’t care what the coach says, you should listen to me instead.
- The referee missed a call that cost your team the game.
- Those referees were awful.
- You shouldn’t play lacrosse because there aren’t that many college scholarships.
- Are you being recruited by any colleges?
- You need to do better if you are going to make the All-Star team or get a scholarship.
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