Lax Lacks Numbers

Last year, the women’s lacrosse had a monumental season that culminated in the school’s first winning record in the sport’s short history. This year, the team is struggling to simply field a full team.

With preseason practices well underway, there are just 12 players on the team’s roster, a far cry from the 18 from last year, and only enough to fill out a starting lineup – with no substitutions.

Of those who have quit, roughly 20 players still attend Wilkes. That group includes last year’s captains Kat Edwards, Analicia Jost, and Shannon McDonald, as well as the team’s top two scorers, forwards Brittney Hodnik and Melissa Polchinski, who combined for 208 of the team’s 357 points.

The sudden exodus has raised questions about why so many players are leaving the program.

Although a concrete reasoning for the substantial drop-off is inconclusive, there are varying explanations all across the board.

“There are many reasons for the lack of numbers,” said athletic director Addy Malatesta. “Retention is always an issue; although this is a drastic drop, it’s a cycle. Class schedules, heart, philosophical differences, and coaching are all possible reasons.”

According to both Malatesta and head coach Kammie Towie, one of the biggest challenges for the program is the lack of high school lacrosse in the area. With so few high schools offering lacrosse locally, recruiting is a tough obstacle.

Malatesta said it’s hard for a program like Wilkes to build a solid foundation because the program is so young and there have been three different coaches in eight years.

“Unfortunately there’s this level of frustration that’s created this dark cloud, and it seems like it has caused a domino effect,” said Malatesta. “It used to be fashionable to play a sport with your friends, now it’s fashionable to leave with your friends and that’s kind of scary.”

Sophomore Carissa Clark agreed, citing an instance where one girl quit and three followed her immediately after.

“It was as if one of them was not on the team, then none of them could be,” commented Clark. “A lot of us who have stayed aren’t very happy with the girls who decided to leave. They left us when we needed them, they were part of the team and it makes it very hard to reunite as a team again.”

Towie stated that many past and recent recruits joined the team because they could see themselves playing at Wilkes University.

Hodnik, a senior who left the team “because of coaching more than anything else,” sees it differently.

“On my recruiting trip people were telling me how fun it was going to be and to come here,” said Hodnik. “I didn’t think that division three lacrosse was going to be this stressful, this much time, and this much of a hassle.”

McDonald also left the team due to difficulties with the coaching.

“The main reason I left was due to the fact that there was no respect for the coaching staff,” said McDonald. “Many returning girls had issues with the specific coaching staff… They didn’t believe in the coaching tactics or their morals.”

Malatesta, however, does not feel coaching is the main issue. Players are given the opportunity to disclose their unhappiness with the program through the player response surveys. These forms are similar to the Student Response Surveys (SRS Forms) filled out by students to leave comments regarding their classes.

“Not everyone is going to be satisfied,” said Malatesta. “It’s an opportunity to write and vent about anything. We have seen negative comments, which are reviewed with the coach, but they are anonymous, and it’s no more than any other sport gets.”

Malatesta feels that the commitment, in some cases, becomes too much, and athletes make a choice to walk away because it is not as meaningful as it once was.

“A lack of love for the game was never part of leaving,” said McDonald. “There were a lot of issues going on in with the team behind the scenes.”

According to both Towie and Malatesta, the struggling economy combined with rigorous academic schedules is partly to blame. With the country suffering from the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, many athletes are taking jobs to help suppress the financial burden of the college education.

“I think a lot of student athletes are obtaining work study or part-time jobs,” said Malatesta. “Parents are having a tougher time making ends meet; if you can alleviate some of the burden I can understand that.”

“Some students may not have a problem managing academics, a job, a team sport, and a social life,” said Towie. “For some it just becomes a pyramid of priorities with the team sport cascading to the bottom.”

Towie ensures that she balances practices around students’ academic schedules, even arranging study halls assuring players time to devote to their schoolwork.

“Sometimes this just isn’t enough and girls feel overwhelmed and leave the team, to focus on academics,” said Towie.

Despite the dwindling numbers, recruiting efforts have not slowed down. As of press time, close to 30 potential athletes have been on campus for recruiting tours. Towie has also hung posters around the school, advertising for women to come out for the team. According to McDonald, players who have left the team have also been contacted via email by the coaching staff, inviting them back to the team for the upcoming season.