GREENWOOD, Ind. - It’s a year of firsts for the budding Davis & Elkins women’s lacrosse program.
Emily Peets, head coach of a brand new Davis & Elkins women’s lacrosse team starts the inaugural season with a few question marks, but with her love of the game has transformed this team into a “strong group of warriors.”
The Senators’ opening day list will feature one junior and three sophomores, leaving the rest of the dozen on the roster as freshmen.
To some coaches, this may seem like a daunting and intimidating task, but Peets looks at it as a way to mold the future of the lacrosse program at D&E and an emerging sport in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
Peets has many goals for her team this season, and will set different goals as the season progresses. The team’s first goal may seem basic, but taking the small steps is vital for future success.
Peets, a former high school coach in Delaware and student-athlete at Delaware State, would like to see her team score a goal in the first game of the season.
After achieving that one, they turn their sights to the next goal of hoping to topple D&E’s in-state G-MAC rival, Alderson Broaddus. According to Peets, there is pure excitement when talking about the subject.
The excitement she sees every day gets her excited for the upcoming season. The chemistry of this team is more than Peets could ask for and she is molding them into a close-knit group of girls who could win championships.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better group of hard-working kids,” praised Peets. “You can put all these kids together, but can’t force them to play as a team.”
Not only looking into the future of the program, she looks to mold her players this season into the championship team she knows her team can be.
Talking about the first-ever G-MAC women’s lacrosse championship in the spring, Peets is excited to compete.
“With this being the first year of the program and everything that this team has already overcome starting with only seven girls, it would be crazy to win the (G-MAC) tournament,” she said.
When D&E’s program was first developing, Peets did not have a lot of time to get to know her team, but after getting in the gym and watching skills improving with every practice, she has the confidence that her team will be a competitive one this season.
As of now, there are three teams in the G-MAC conference (D&E, Alderson Broaddus, Ursuline) that have women’s lacrosse programs. The lacrosse landscape will expand in 2017 to at least seven schools, including new conference members Findlay, Lake Erie and Walsh. Ohio Valley will also sponsor the growing sport by this time.
“It’s awesome that lacrosse is growing as fast as it is,” she said. “As time goes on, it will be nice to see the programs get more competitive.”
Peets and the Senators open their season on the road against non-conference opponent West Virginia Wesleyan College on Feb. 16 at 3:00 p.m. The first-ever G-MAC Championship will be conducted May 6-7.