Kate's Story

Active Sara — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:59:00 GMT

University of Maryland '98 - Women's Lacrosse

From a very young age I knew I loved sports and had the killer instinct. I got involved in playing AAU club basketball at a very young age and traveled and played basketball all year round. When I was in about second grade I decided to pick up soccer as well, within a few years I was playing soccer all year round on club teams. Then in third grade this new sport was presented to me called lacrosse. I really wasn’t that interested in it but all my friends from the neighborhood were going to try it so I figured why not.

Lacrosse was the only sport out of the three sports that was only in the spring. I didn’t have to play it all year round to be considered dedicated to it so it definitely took a back seat to my other sports. I remember in sixth grade missing lacrosse practice in lacrosse season to go to basketball and soccer practice which were out of season. I also remember going to lacrosse, leaving early to go to soccer and then heading to basketball practice. I was getting warn out to say the least.

By the time I reached high school I had developed a love for lacrosse. Lacrosse is an athletic sport; if you are a great athlete you can be successful. I was able to incorporate all the things I had learned over the years from playing such ridiculous amounts of basketball and soccer into lacrosse.

When I reached freshman year in high school I did play basketball, soccer, and lacrosse. As a freshman I was on junior varsity for basketball and soccer, but shockingly made the varsity lacrosse team at St.Mary’s in Annapolis! Believe me this was a big deal, it was almost unheard of to make varsity as a freshman. You were lucky to make junior varsity as a freshman. It was then I realized that lacrosse was my sport. I wasn’t burned out on it like the other sports that I had played for years all year round. More exciting then just making the lacrosse team, I started as a freshman and continued to start for four more years. By my sophomore year I quit basketball, continued to play soccer for one more year on the varsity team and my junior year quit soccer too. I picked up volleyball for fun and just continued with my lacrosse career. I had no idea the opportunities that were in store for me, when back in third grade, but I sure am happy I decided to give lacrosse a shot.

The recruiting process was exciting. I received tons of letters from schools all over the country. I had no idea that all these schools were interested in me or even knew about me. It did start to become a little overwhelming sifting through all the mail and all the weekly phone calls. In the summer before my senior year I decided to take some road trips and set up some unofficial visits to colleges and meet with coaches so I could downsize my huge list of choices. That was very helpful to me because there were quite a few schools that once I saw the campus or met the coach I knew I didn’t want to attend. It wasn’t easy but I came to my conclusion about the five schools I was going to visit. I went to the University of Maryland, the University of Virginia, Georgetown University, Loyola College, and Vanderbilt University.

In the fall of my senior year I went on paid official visits to my top five schools and spent a weekend with the team in order to get to know them and meet with the coach. It was amazing! I had so much fun on all of these visits and it was great to spend time with the players and coaches. I had such a hard time making my decision though.

In retrospect, I always knew I was going to be a Terp! I loved the University of Maryland, there style of play and the team. I didn’t come by this decision easily though and really agonized over the whole thing. This is such an exciting time in your life but it’s also a very tough time in your life. You’ll figure it out so be patient and open.

My Advice:

If you decided you didn’t want to play anymore would you still want to be at this school?
Look at teams and the way they practice along with their style of play. Think about whether or not you like their style or if you could adapt to it. A lot of people don’t think about this, but a sport takes up a lot of your time and will be a big part of your college life so you want to enjoy it. You want to have fun with it! I know I did.

Once a Terp always a Terp!

Kate Robinson

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Kate's Story