Scary Start for Girls’ Lacrosse
Highland Park Girls’ Lacrosse held a fall tournament, Scarefest, the weekend of October 17th for school teams in the North Texas area as a way to help raise money for the team. Girls’ Lacrosse is not a UIL sport, so the team must come up with its own funds for equipment and uniforms.
The tournament was held at Southwest Fields where the team practices each week on Mondays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 7:00 after school. The team has 30 members this year and has a varsity and junior varsity team, both of which were enrolled in the tournament. Sophomore Emily Greaves plays mainly for the junior varsity team as an underclassman.
“Scarefest was held at our own field, so it was nice to play on familiar turf,” Greaves said. “This was our first tournament of the year, so we tried to get a feel for where we stood as a team before going into the year, rather than looking to win. The last few weeks the team has prepared by getting to know our teammates further and welcoming new ones into the team. It’s been hard trying to adjust to losing the seniors from last year, because they really led the team both on and off the field.”
Held as an opportunity for teams to practice together in a game environment without wins or losses affecting qualification for the championships, Scarefest was open to all girls’ high school teams who wanted to sign up. For new players, like freshman Quincy Hammer, the tournament was a chance to become more comfortable with the sport and as a way to connect with other players.
“I had been wanting to start lacrosse, so at the beginning of the fall I joined the team,” Hammer said. “The tournament was our first game to play together, and it definitely helped me bond with my teammates because we were all cheering together. I was really scared to play with the high school because everyone is a lot better than me and at a higher skill level. I didn’t want to let anyone down, but also wanted to be a part of the game. I play as an attacker, and being on the field was very intimidating because the teams we were playing against were really good.”
The team played four games in the tournament, ending with a 0-4 record. Even though no games were won by either of the teams, there is still a long fall practice season ahead to prepare for the competition season in the spring.
