As the spring season unfolds, the Soddy Daisy Girls Lacrosse team has dominated the district. With an unbroken streak of victories, they’ve not only defended their turf but claimed the top spot in the district rankings. The team is in their third year of play at Soddy Daisy High School and have improved from last in the district their first season to first this season.
With just a couple weeks left in the season, the question on everyone’s mind is no longer if they will maintain their lead, but just how far this team will go.
The first lacrosse season at SDHS was a learning experience for the whole team, spending the majority of practices working on being able to accurately catch and throw the ball. But the players aren’t the only ones who came into this not knowing the game, Coach Jamie Edmondson also had to learn the ropes of lacrosse while simultaneously teaching these girls from the ground up. Edmondson says, “I’ll admit I was nervous, but having coaching experience and playing basketball it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I had and still have a huge support system, Without them this would have never been possible”. She says she spends a lot of time watching youtube videos and college games but is still learning everyday how to make her players better. Edmondson says she’s always been competitive, so being last in the district was tough, but expected. “We won 2 games that year but those wins showed me what we could do moving forward. I saw the potential in player’s that could build this program.” Her goal was to reach the playoffs by the fourth season, and they have done that a year earlier than expected, so edmondson’s new goal is to make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs. “This team will go far. To say the least I’m proud of my girls for taking on the challenge! Wherever we end up this season I will be so proud of the girls’ performance!! They have worked hard!”
Junior player Kinsley Lane hopes the winning continues saying “we’ve played all these teams before and I think if we work together as a team really well we can beat them again” . She says the girls are always supporting each other, on and off the field. “We’ve improved a lot of stuff, but our team work has improved the most”. She says the first season was a learning experience for everyone, since no one had played the game before, but a couple of key elements to the game have improved, “We have gotten better at passing and shooting,” but she still sees the need to work together to get the wins.
With Signal Mountain and Walker Valley being the only district games remaining, the girls are working harder than ever to stay undefeated. Even though Soddy Daisy has beat both in the past, you can’t take any team for granted. Rematch games are tough on each side, with the opposing team wanting to redeem themselves and SDHS wanting to defend their top spot. These games will be a challenge for the girls, but they are dedicated to keeping their strong record.
