During spring break, I traveled with the Saints girls’ lacrosse team to the Golden Coast for a chance to play in four well-fought games, explore around San Diego (specifically, La Jolla), watch amazing sunsets, and spend time with my teammates. It was a great six days worth of travel and fun, which could not have happened without the coaches and parent volunteers who took part in making this trip possible.
Our first full day in California was our designated free day, meaning we had no practice or games. Many of the parent chaperones informed us about a seal sighting near our hotel. My teammates and I thought it would be fun and a good way to spend our time, and we were so right. The seal sighting was the first place we went to, and it was a great start to our day. The seals were so cute and just lazed out on the sand, like they were posing for us to take a picture of them. And trust me, I got many. Then, at around 5pm, we got ready for our lacrosse family dinners. At the beginning of the season, each player on JV and varsity was assigned a family with our “moms” being one of the seniors. It’s a great tradition our girls lacrosse team has been participating in for years now, and everyone looks forward to their senior year when they can start a SLAX (Saints lacrosse) family of their own. We have four senior leaders this year, and I had dinner with Anna Strauss and her family and enjoyed a nice meal over the water.
The next day I had breakfast at the hotel and went to practice at a nearby park. The practice was only an hour long and we reviewed some basic 3v3 and 7v7 concepts. Afterward, we got back to the hotels, showered, and had a team lunch at Queenstown Village, La Jolla. It was such a cute restaurant with flowers all over the place, covering the walls and outdoor dining, and it was a great opportunity for team bonding. The lunch was with JV and varsity members, so we all dispersed throughout the restaurant and got to get to know new people from both teams. The food, vibes, and decorations were great, and it was a fantastic spot to eat and relax before our games. After our team lunch, both JV and varsity played against the Cathedral Dons. For varsity, it was definitely one of our hard games during the trip. Throughout the game, we found ourselves not playing together as a team and letting little mistakes get into our heads. The refs in California are also vastly different from the refs in Virginia, so having to adjust to their strict rules was a hassle. We ended up winning 15-13, but the whole team agreed that we should have won by much more. Following games on our California trip, the coaches told us that we need to show the teams what Saints lacrosse is all about instead of stooping down to our opponents level.
On Tuesday my teammates and I got breakfast and coffee at Better Buzz Coffee before our practice at the University of California San Diego (highly recommend Better Buzz if you are ever in the San Diego area!). Despite the rain, our team stayed focused and went over offensive and defensive concepts. Later on in the day was our game against the Torrey Pines Falcons. This game was a much better game than Monday’s; we played well as a team and got used to our new environment on the West Coast (and the refs were much more sufferable!). We won 17-14 and afterwards, we all got dinner with our respective classes. The juniors went to get In-N-Out and I absolutely loved it. It was my first ever time going and it was one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. My teammates and I were in awe of how good these burgers are, and we all wished that there was an In-N-Out on the East Coast. We even got the classic In-N-Out hats and took a Junior-class photo with them on. Afterward, we got froyo near the hotel and then went to bed.
On Wednesday we went back to UC San Diego for an early morning practice. It was still raining in California, which was very surprising to me considering how I’ve only heard of Cali being nothing but sunny. I went back to the hotel and took a quick nap before our third game of the week, which was against the La Costa Canyon Mavericks. This was an hour away trip so we took up the opportunity to fill the car ride with upbeat music to get us hype for the game. Unfortunately the bad refs were back, and they were not on our side. The girls on the opposite team kept on hitting our goggles off (slashing, in the lacrosse language), we kept on getting three second calls when we were nowhere near the eight meter (you cannot be inside the eight meter for more than three seconds and if you are caught doing so, the other team gets to shoot a foul shot on the eight meter), and even I got hit in the face without the refs calling anything. We ended up winning 12-6, but I and the rest of my team came home from the game angry and irritated.
We started our last day of vacation with both JV and varsity teams participating in team yoga. I thought it would be nice to relax and take the edge off of Wednesday’s game, but I was completely wrong. It was finally sunny after the two dreary days in San Diego, but despite the warmth and occasional cool breezes, I couldn’t distract myself from not being able to stretch the ways in which the yoga instructor was stretching without feeling an immense amount of pain. Maybe it’s because of my lengthy height (or maybe it’s because I’m genuinely not flexible enough to participate) but I do not believe yoga is for me. I was too busy stressing instead of enjoying the leisurely activity. After yoga, my friends and I got more froyo, and then we got ready for our last game of the trip. We played against the Coronado Islanders, which was hands down our hardest game. They were the only ranked team we played on the trip (even though they only played four games in their regular season) and there were girls that our coaches wanted us to look out for. We got our match-ups and headed into the game with determination to win and have our record be 4-0 in California. Unfortunately, we lost 10-11, and left the game saddened by our only loss but grateful for the opportunity to play them and the other three teams in California. The next day we had an early flight back to D.C. where we were reunited with our families and friends.
The trip to California was unforgettable. I loved my time in San Diego and would definitely come back again in the future where hopefully I’ll have more sunny days than rainy. Nethertheless, it was so fun to spend some time with my teammates and coaches and to get to know everyone better. I made so many memories with so many new people and am so grateful to have had the opportunity to travel across the country with my team. We are currently ranked 8th in the country, and I definitely think that our California trip had something to do with our immense amount of success.
