With collegiate spring sports starting to pick up, most coaches do not know what to expect from their teams due to the lack of time in-person and practices. Oswego State’s women’s lacrosse head coach Britt Howard falls in that category. Losing 11 seniors and all of the 2020 spring season, her team is full of new faces. In this unique time for sports, Howard’s goal is to make sure the team is able to gel together with a lot of new players and very limited facetime over the last year.
“The biggest thing I would say is just making sure we build our team chemistry up,” Howard said. “We have a lot of new faces, and I think it is important that our freshmen get to know our seniors, juniors and sophomores.”
Howard knows that her team has not been able to play for a long time, so she is going into this new season with different expectations than what she would have under normal circumstances. With the limitations that have been set due to COVID-19 and the inconsistencies with the weather, Howard is prepared to “go with the flow” this spring.
“I think the biggest thing is changing my coaching mentality,” Howard said. “I’m not going to have the same expectations as I would in a normal year, because of the limitations on facilities and different gyms you can go to and the equipment at the gym, so [we] really just have to go with the flow.”
With the addition of many new players to the team this spring and the inability for them to really meet in person, Howard had to get crafty, like many coaches, to keep her team connected with each other. Using Zoom was a big part in making sure the new players were able to connect and meet with the older players.
“The upperclassmen did a good job keeping the team connected, as we had a few freshmen transfer in,” Howard said. “They wanted to make sure the new freshmen understood the culture of our team, I like to meet with the girls once in a while via Zoom as a team, and we have had personal meetings to go over academics and personal goals.”
Howard hopes that the incoming freshmen will mesh with the system that has been created with the returning players. Even with limited practice, she believes that if they stick to the team’s system, they will be successful.
“They need to buy into the system,” Howard said, “and listen to the upperclassmen and they are asking questions.”
Although there has not been any practices yet, junior Erin Lehmann and sophomore Sela Wiley have been making sure they are ready to play Both know it is important to stay fit and prepared to play because they never know when they will be called upon to start playing again. They also hold a role in making sure they keep the team is connected and making sure everyone feels comfortable.
“Personally, I have been getting out and getting active. Going to the gym and trying my best to stay connected with the team,” Lehmann said. “That is my number one priority, making sure that everyone can come in and feel that family atmosphere.”
Wiley has been doing her part by staying connected with the freshmen while being on campus this semester.
“I have the benefit of being on campus this semester,” Wiley said. “I have been able to go get lunch with some of the girls on the team and get to know them better.”
Lehmann took it upon herself to really make sure that everyone was acclimated to the team. She feels it is very important for the team chemistry that everyone feels comfortable being around the team.
“Last semester, I took it upon myself to do one-on-one meetings with the girls just to introduce myself,” Lehmann said. “Just so everyone had a friendly face going forward”.
The Oswegonian file photo from 2020
