By Daryn ’22
Let me paint you a picture. A Harvard-Westlake student has just gotten out of his Physics class feeling pretty bad about a tough test that he’s just taken. He looks at his phone and it reads 3:00 pm. His face lights up immediately and he spots some of his friends walking down to the athletics building. He grabs a large bag and a stick with a net at the end. Less than 30 minutes later, he’s on the field clashing sticks with some kid from another school, taking his anger from the Physics test out during the game. That’s one of the opportunities the lacrosse program can provide at Harvard-Westlake.
HW is, as you might already know, a very rigorous and competitive school. And at such a school, students often need ways to relieve their stress. As with many sports, lacrosse is a great outlet to channel your frustration and gives you the opportunity to do so in a controlled environment. I can tell you from personal experience that this sport is certainly one of the best stress relievers and distractions from school that HW has to offer.
Coached by an amazing staff led by Erik Krum, the 2-hour practices starting in the Winter always fly by and are a blast. The Winter is only the off-season though, where you practice twice a week usually from 6-8 pm. Once Spring, the season of lacrosse, rolls around, things start heating up with practices 5 days a week, from around 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm. Games will usually be twice a week with at least a day or two in between. HW always provides transportation for the players to and from the games.
The lacrosse program is currently no-cut meaning that anyone that would like to join the team can! The only prerequisite is that you are willing to put in your full effort into practices and games for as long as you participate in the sport. To join, you can select lacrosse when you do your course selections. The middle school athletics department often sends emails asking who is interested in different sports and you could contact them there. Otherwise, at both the middle school and high school campuses, you could email the coaches directly and they can help you join the team. While Harvard-Westlake currently only offers a Boys Lacrosse program, we are proud to announce that we have had a girl join the high school program for the first time this year. It is incredibly exciting and we hope that this encourages more girls to pursue the sports that they love and want to play at Harvard-Westlake no matter the obstacles.
My favorite word to describe the lacrosse team is “family” because they are my second family. Everyone on the team, no matter who you are, shares a similarity in their love of the sport. Both on and off the field you will find opportunities to bond and grow with your team. I cannot begin to fathom how different my life would be without this sport and program. It has been such a big part of my life and I am forever grateful for Harvard-Westlake presenting me with the opportunity to join the lacrosse team. Check out HW’s lacrosse program page here.
