New Season, New Coaches: The girls lacrosse team has three new coaches this season who are working to form connections with players

Senior Izzy Wong reached down to touch her toes during warm-ups in a preseason practice while waiting her turn to talk to the coaches about her day — a tradition started by the new coaching staff. The coaches walk around and make it to each girl during stretches. 

“While we’re doing drills, if they’re at the back of the line I’m going to give them a tip on what they could do better and definitely some positive feedback,” assistant coach Catey Roux said. “Then also asking them a quick question about their day, or what do they think of the Chiefs game or the dance they just had to get to know them a little bit more, because that’s a that’s a very important thing.”

This short five-minute conversation with each girl tends to be the players’ favorite part of practice.

“They’re doing a good job of learning about every player and their strengths,” Wong said. “It’s very personal.”

Every year since 2021, the girls lacrosse team has had new coaches because most of the coaches were parents of players on the team who stopped coaching when their daughter graduated. Some coaches have moved away. 

This year, the staff consists of head coach Kelly Marion and assistant coaches Catey Roux and Marysa Barnhill. All three played lacrosse at Rockhurst University, so when Marion got the offer, she decided to ask the others if they would want to help her coach.

Senior Maggie Condon has played lacrosse since freshman year — experiencing three changes of coaching staff. Having new coaches each year has motivated her to work harder in practices and games to show her improvement.

“It motivates players to make sure that they’re demonstrating all of their abilities because with new coaches, they haven’t seen how you perform in high-intensity games,” Condon said. “You want to prove [yourself] to them because they weren’t there to see who started last year.”

Not only do the new coaches make players want to perform better, but the coaches also hope it encourages players to interact and get to know the new coaches of their team, according to assistant coach Barnhill. 

“We have opened it up to the girls that if they have any issues or they need to talk to us about anything, they’re more than welcome, and we’re going to be there with open ears,” Barnhill said.

Barnhill strives to create a welcoming environment where players feel comfortable talking about a range of topics from family issues to just their daily life or an upcoming event at school. Barnhill attributes a team’s success on and off the field to this.

To contribute to their positive environment, during their preseason practices, the coaches make small talk with every player during conditioning and get to know all of the girls’ personalities along with their playing styles.

“The relationships I find through lacrosse and I can find it with these coaches too,” senior Brynn Delaney said. “Even though I only have one year it’s going to be really important to me to grow really close to them.”

Aidan McEnerney, the girls lacrosse head coach throughout the 2024 season had to leave the team due to another job opportunity outside of lacrosse, but after growing with the team it holds an incredibly important place in her heart.

McEnerney left many special traditions with the team and carried on the traditions of previous coaches too. A few of the team’s favorite traditions are Easter egg hunts and team breakfasts before games.

Condon remembers that on her shared birthday with Delaney, their coaches came to celebrate with them. That moment became one of her favorite memories during her 2024 season.

“We played St. Teresa’s last year on our birthday,” Condon said. “Then after I had a team dinner at my house, and I remember it was fun because our coaches came too and they celebrated our birthdays with us. They were just awesome coaches, and they brought so much energy.”

According to assistant coach Roux, the new coaches this year are going forward in the season with the knowledge from more than a decade of playing lacrosse, and they are using their experience to make it an enjoyable season for all. Almost all of the effects of having new coaches have been positive, according to the girls on the team.

“I also think it creates more of an understanding environment, transitioning so quickly from playing to now being a coach,” Roux said. “I have it very fresh in my head, what I specifically wanted to change about my previous coaches’ styles. Now I have this opportunity to use the different tactics I saw in my past coaches and pick what’s best for me, but also for the girls that I have in front of me now.”