With clashing sticks and ruthless moves, the sport of girl’s lacrosse has been on the rise in Southern California since 2017, so it’s no surprise that we adopted the sport here in Laguna Beach seven years ago. Alexandra Holtz, Integrated Science I & II Honors teacher at Laguna Beach High School, played lacrosse through her high school and college years on the East Coast. When she realized the sport was making its way to the West Coast, she wanted to bring the joy of lacrosse to life in Laguna. However, this desire came with many difficulties, from finding girls to getting a field to practice on; the first year of girls’ lacrosse was a trial run at its finest.
“I had a few soccer players, and then most of the girls had never played a sport before,” said Holtz. “I began [teaching] rules, positions, and techniques to a brand new team while juggling my duties as an educator.”
Holtz describes her experience throughout that season: “It was very ‘roll up your sleeves’ and ‘get dirty’ kind of situation, where I would say, ‘okay! I’m doing this” quite often. The new team did not win a game that season, but Holtz assured that “there were a couple of games where [the team] got close and we were scoring goals; the girls were learning the rules, and it was just such a rewarding thing to see.” Even though Holtz retired from the coaching position after that first year, her dedication to establishing the girls’ lacrosse program at Laguna has allowed immense growth in the sport over the last few years.
When talking to the lacrosse team’s current captain, Ruby Samson, she mentions how in the 2021 season, her first year, “[they] only had a JV team, we had like two subs.” The fact that they played at the JV level made finding games a little more challenging since most schools only had varsity teams. Regardless, the small force that is girls’ lacrosse at Laguna was still charting new territory and setting an example for future players.
The following year, the program saw a very abrupt and welcome change in popularity, resulting in an influx of girls who could create full JV and varsity teams. Since the sport is still relatively new to Southern California, most of the girls coming in have never played lacrosse before. Still, in the words of current coach Paul Storke, “the more experienced players are willing to help the new players get better, and the new players all support each other,” so lack of experience is never a problem on the team. The program has been fortunate to find four amazing coaches, all previous lacrosse players. The seasoned coaches now teach the girls tips and tricks for every position and play. In the words of Samson, “I think that we are a well-rounded team, JV and varsity,” and that is not only thanks to the coaching staff but also the determination of the girls every day to win and get better.
The team is still going strong this year, and the varsity girls are striving to become the CIF Division Ⅲ champions! The astonishing progress this program has made is a stark contrast to its beginning, and the one who started it all, Alexandra Holtz, says, “I never thought there would be two teams because I could barely get one team together,” showing just how much this sport has grown in less than ten years.
So many girls love lacrosse because of the game itself and the people they meet on the team. The girls are fun and keep a lighthearted air around practices and games, but that is not to say they don’t know how to lock in and work hard. The coaches are well-versed in the sport and present their knowledge in a way that is easy to understand and memorize. Putting all these qualities together makes for a fast, fierce, and fun team that has its eyes set on success while also understanding the process of getting there. Anyone is welcome to watch these girls in action!
“Join! It’s wonderful, great, the best team you will ever join; we’re awesome,” said Samson.
