“Women, in my opinion, are totally underestimated when it comes to guys’ sports,” said junior Morgan Sowards, the first girl to try to play boys’ la- crosse in the school’s history. “We are thought of as weak and not able to keep up with them, and that may be true for some, but when you have the dedication to reach a goal of being looked at as an equal with the guys, it becomes a mindset to get in shape and grow as a lacrosse player.”
Sowards has played girls’ lacrosse for six years in her home state of Ohio and wanted to play this year for a high school team, but no girls’ lacrosse program is offered here. Her solution to this problem is simply join the boys’ team and show them what she is made of.
“We don’t have a girls’ team, so playing on the guys’ team is the only option for lacrosse right now,” Sowards said. “It’s definitely going to be harder for them to take me seriously, but that’s just the struggle, I guess.”
Sowards understands that joining a male-dominated sport will not be an easy task, but she has showed up to multiple workouts to try to show the team and the coaches she has the skills to be there. Kevin McDaniel is the boys’ lacrosse coach at Northwood and he believes Sowards’ skill level is high enough to partake in workouts and eventually join the team.
“Watching her abilities and her skill level, she has the ability and skill level to play on a lacrosse team; being that we only have a male program it’s a tough fit for a female to enter that sport,” McDaniel said. “People who understand both male and female lacrosse understand that there are different rules, and if she played men’s lacrosse she would have to play with those rules. [Men’s lacrosse] is a lot more contact, a lot rougher. With that being said, she has the skills and fundamentals to pass and catch and move the ball around very well.”
Sowards said she understands the dangers and physical aspect of the sport and is prepared for whatever comes her way this season.
“It should be your choice; if you know the contact portion of the game, then you should be able to play,” Sowards said.
Bill Hall, Northwood’s long standing football coach, had a girl play on his JV team several years ago and knows what it’s like to introduce a female into a male-dominated sport.
“I told my players, ‘She’s just one of us; only thing different is that she dresses in a different place; you treat her the same, no better, no worse, no different. If you’re going to tackle her, you’re tackling her just like she’s a guy; it’s football, we do what we do,’” Hall said.
McDaniel shared the same belief when he was asked about the physical contact of lacrosse and how his players would feel applying it to a girl.
“If she plays on the men’s program, you can’t lower the level of aggression on a men’s lacrosse program, so she would have to be ready for what’s thrown at her and that’s something that her and her parents would have to be willing to understand and willing to accept.”
While both Hall and McDaniel want their players to treat a girl just as any other team member, in reality, things may not play out that way.
“They are definitely some guys who hold back from hitting me,” Sowards said. “Coaches have told me they are going to full on hit me just like any other guy, but in other sports, the stereotype for girls is they won’t hit you like the rest of the team.”
Senior James Emmerling has played on McDaniel’s lacrosse team for three years and plans to play this upcoming season for his senior year.
“We are probably not going to treat her nearly as rough as the guys; we will probably go really easy on her, if we go up against her at all,” Emmerling said.
Senior Trent Cline has been a member of Northwood’s football program for four years now and while he has never personally experienced a female on his team, he gave his input on how he believed a female would be treated.
“I would let up a little bit at first because I’m not used to it; I don’t think anybody is used to it, but once we got used to it, we wouldn’t let up,” Cline said.
Most people agree that just like anything new, a girl on the team will take some getting used to.
“The guys have been really encouraging and some have gotten more and more comfortable with me around, and they’re able to hit me without feeling weird about it,” Sowards said. “It’s definitely a huge transition from girls’ to guys’ lacrosse, but it’s going to be a lot of fun, and I’m getting to meet a ton of friends along the way.”
-By Jessica Kolomichuk