Experience is a virtue for Arianna Georgallis, who is entering her second year playing for the Idaho women’s lacrosse team.
Like other club sports, recruitment has been a concern for Georgallis going into the spring season. Not only does Georgallis plays for Idaho, but she and teammate McKenna Sato are team captains, club presidents and coaches.
“That’s a big problem for us,” Georgallis said. “Last year we had issues that we didn’t have enough players. So we are playing against teams that had 12 players on the field but we only had eight or 10. So it’s really hard for us not having any subs and playing with less people.”
Georgallis and Sato’s role will depend on how many players will take part of the team before its season opener in January.
“Based on how many players we get, McKenna and I will mostly coach,” Georgallis said. “If we don’t get enough players, then McKenna and I will also play.”
The club isn’t limited to experienced players as the team allows anyone with little to no background in lacrosse to join the sport.
“Last year, a majority of our team was brand new,” Georgallis said. “So we take everyone even if they never played lacrosse. I think it’s great because it’s not super time consuming, it gets you in shape and you make a lot of new friends.”
Georgallis said it’s challenging teaching inexperienced players.
“It’s really difficult when you get people who haven’t played before and people who have,” Georgallis said. “People really want to get right into it and keep going. But we also need to teach the new players and that’s a lot what fall is about.”
Georgallis said not having any fall games has allowed the team to build good chemistry and establish its lacrosse skills.
Before playing for the Vandals, Georgallis, a sophomore from California, played high school lacrosse for four years.
Club sports also require teams to travel regionally which Georgallis said traveling and transitioning to a new place has been a challenge since joining the Idaho team.
“We travel pretty far to play other teams,” Georgallis said. “We go to Seattle and Montana. So just keeping up with practice, college work and playing in the cold has been a challenge.”
The Vandals will play in four tournaments this spring, including hosting their own tournament Feb. 13-14.
Georgallis said she hopes they’ll continue hosting a tournament in the next few years.
“It’s a big deal because before last year, we haven’t hosted a home tournament for a long time,” Georgallis said. “Last year we were able to get a home tournament and then this year. So hopefully we’re going to keep the trend going.”
Idaho’s first tournament is set for Jan. 30 at Seattle University where the Vandals will play two games. In addition to their own tournament, the Vandals will play on the road at Washington State and Central Washington campuses.
“As soon as we get back from winter break, we want to start practicing,” Georgallis said. “We want to get a lot of girls and have a pretty big team. But we also want everyone to be prepared, show up to practice, get their skills down, play as a team and get new players.”
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @TheLTFiles
(Photo courtesy of Brenda Ely)