Discovered on a whim

Posted 5/30/17

However, after a year of playing lacrosse, O’Neill does know that “it’s been a ton of fun.”

“And I’m glad to play for the university, and I’m glad that I decided to just try it out,” she said.

This is O’Neill’s second year …

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Discovered on a whim

Posted

Passing interest in lacrosse turns into a collegiate career

SarahJean O’Neill had seen lacrosse listed on the University of Wyoming’s website, but she knew little about the club sport and knew no one on the team; she’s still not sure why she decided to email the coach to inquire about practices.

However, after a year of playing lacrosse, O’Neill does know that “it’s been a ton of fun.”

“And I’m glad to play for the university, and I’m glad that I decided to just try it out,” she said.

This is O’Neill’s second year attending UW; during her first year, she was member of the track team.

“I just found out that it wasn’t for me,” O’Neill said. “But I knew that I wanted to have a team and I wanted to be involved on campus, and I wanted to play a sport, so I thought I would go to a lacrosse practice, and it was great.”

She said the sport is similar to hockey. Players carry and pass a small rubber ball around the playing field with long-handled sticks that have a kind of mesh basket on the end; the goal is to put the ball through the opponent’s net for points.

Lacrosse is a club sport for the University of Wyoming, meaning that the sport is primarily student-run. The coach, Megan Dudenhoeffer, is also the goalie.

“It also helps that our coach is a peer, so it’s easier to talk to a coach that is on your level,” O’Neill said.

Because it’s a student-run sport, O’Neill said she thinks that helps with the team bonding and the work ethic.

“The team is amazing. Like, I have so many great friends on the team, and I couldn’t have asked for a better college sport experience I guess,” she said. “But mostly the team is fantastic. We have so much fun.”

O’Neill has formed lasting friendships on the lacrosse team.

“We all have a pretty good work ethic and we just have good team chemistry; we all get along,” said O’Neill adding, “If one of us wants to go for a run, you can always find somebody who wants to go running with you or wants to go to the gym with you. It’s great.”

Even though lacrosse is a club sport, the team is in a Division II league and travels to other universities to play games. Schedules are determined at the beginning of the year at a league meeting. 

There are a total of 16 members on the team, with 12 out on the field at one time.

This season, the team traveled to Utah and went to the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado, twice.

“We’re planning on having more games this coming spring, but that’s what we fit in this year,” O’Neill said.

In Utah, the team played in a tournament that was supposed to consist of four games in one day, but two got rained out. The first trip to UNC was a two-day tournament with three games and the second trip was a single match against UNC.

Funding for travel comes from two sources: Some monies come from the UW club sports program and the rest comes from dues paid by each player.

“They’re not that bad, considering what you get out of it,” said O’Neill of the dues.

The team has mandatory practices year-round, three times a week. In the offseason, practices are an hour long; they’re two hours long during the season.

The same eligibility requirements as varsity sports also apply to club sports, so a member of the team can only play for a total of four years.

This is O’Neill’s first year of playing, so she will still have three years of eligibility.

O’Neill is excited about that, because she expects it will take her three more years to finish her bachelor’s degree in botany.

She’s majoring in botany “because I enjoy being outside and that’s a good way to get into a job that will put me outside.”

As for where O’Neill wants her degree to take her, “I don’t know,” she said. “I know that I enjoy it so far, and so it’ll take me where it takes me.”

As if taking 14 credits and playing a college sport weren’t enough, O’Neill also works 10-15 hours a week and has two dogs.

“I’m pretty busy, but I’d rather be busy than not,” O’Neill said of her schedule.

O’Neill graduated from Powell High School in 2015 and ran during both the indoor and outdoor track seasons and swam.

As for lacrosse, “I just think it’s an interesting sport that should get a little bit of recognition, because it’s really cool and it’s super fun to watch and it’s really fun to play,” she said.

O’Neill added that, not only are her teammates great, several of their opponents’ teams are made up of “really nice girls.”

“It’s a good culture,” she said.

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