By Nancy Harley
It was a group that started with a vision….small, but enough to plant a powerful seed—bring the game of girls’ lacrosse to the Pinnacle High School community—a vision essentially formed by one parent to make the game accessible to his daughter. And it has snowballed into a vision and a reality that no one could have perhaps anticipated. Eight years, one non-profit corporation, hundreds of girls and three varsity state championships later, Pinnacle Girls Lacrosse Club (PGLC) has become a force to be reckoned with and arguably the premiere high school girls lacrosse club in the state of Arizona.
Led this season for the second year by former Oneonta State four-year starter, decorated player, and PGLC Head Coach Brianne Ruzek, the girls set in stone their second undefeated season and state championship in as many years. And Coach Bri, as the girls call her, earned the AGLA Coach of the Year award for the second straight season. Varsity assistant coaches include Dave Podolak and Rod Chamberlin. Each have five years of experience and Special Assistants include Greg Ritter, an eighth year coach who works with the goalies and provides pep talks like no other; Eva Martin, a conditioning coach who works with the girls one to two times per week, and Reggie Younger Jr, a certified Sport Psychology Consultant by the Association for Applied Sports Psychology, who works with the team on mental focus.
Playing other lacrosse teams from around the state, the Pinnacle girls led with heart and an incredible passion for the game. They have become, undoubtedly, the team to beat.
PGLC 2013 graduates include midfielder Madi Hicks; attack players Hailey Antrim, Meriam Avades, and Alex Chamberlin; and defensive players Nadine Bashir and Alison Molnar. Hicks was named Honorable Mention All-State and will be moving on to collegiate play with a scholarship to NCAA DII Lindenwood University in Missouri. Antrim received All-State Honorable Mention. Avades was named a US Lacrosse Academic All-American. Chamberlin was awarded the AGLA Offensive Player of the Year Award, made First Team All-State, and was given US Lacrosse Academic All-American. Bashir received All-State Honorable Mention.
While the loss of the six graduated senior players will certainly be a hit to the team, make no mistake that there remain many strong varsity girls—14 returning—and outstanding players who will be moved up from junior varsity to fill the void. Decorated varsity players who will continue to play for the 2013-2014 season include: Aly Smith, a sophomore goalkeeper, who was named AGLA Goalie of the Year and 1st Team All-State, and given US Lacrosse All-American Honorable Mention; Nicole Cosmany, a sophomore defensive player who was named to 1st Team All-State; Katarina Johnston, a sophomore midfielder who was named to 1st Team All-State and Annie Frey, a junior defensive player awarded Academic All-American. As for the other eleven returning players, their record speaks for itself; they are, after all, the reigning state champions.
PGLC’s junior varsity team has proven to be an incredible training ground for the varsity level and a powerful team in its own right with three undefeated seasons and winning records in almost every season since the club started. This season the team won their last eight games to finish with a 10-4-1 record before advancing to the league’s inaugural JV Championship Game, a thrilling contest that ended with a heartbreaking 10-9 loss—not bad for a team whose 18-player roster included eight girls who had little to no experience with the game before joining the team.
The JV team is led by Head Coach Jennifer McDonald, a former PGLC and Highpoint University player. Assisting “Jenny Mac” are Greg Frey, a third year coach, and Chris Havrilla, a first year coach who played lacrosse in high school and college on the East Coast. The junior varsity players are encouraged and mentored by the coaches, the varsity girls, and even the returning junior varsity players.
Since the beginning, the mentality of everyone involved with PGLC is to grow the game. The girls who have been around for one year, five years, or somewhere in between all encourage new girls to take their game to the next level. It is a positive, nurturing environment. And these girls are not just leaders on the field; they are leaders in the community and in the classroom. PGLC girls are involved in student government, yearbook, National Honors Society, Society of Women Scholars, Mentors, Teacher Academy, DECA, and countless other organizations—both in and out of the school environment. They truly exemplify the values of the Pinnacle High School surrounding communities—involvement, commitment, academics, and family.
Although lacrosse is not yet sanctioned by the AIA (Arizona Interscholastic Association), which oversees all high school sports in the state of Arizona, it is likely to become sanctioned within the next few years. Take a visit to any town on the East Coast, drive past an elementary, middle, or high school around the time of the final release bell, and try to count the number of girls and boys you see carrying lacrosse sticks. It will be challenging, to be sure, because it often looks as if every child carries one. In certain states, it is more popular than the usual powerhouses of football, basketball, and soccer. Becoming sanctioned across the board is only a matter of time.
According to US Lacrosse, “lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports at the high school level and is now sanctioned as a championship sport in 21 states. Several US Lacrosse chapters also play major roles in organizing regular season play and running state championships in areas where the sport is not yet sanctioned” (http://www.uslacrosse.org/TopNav2Left/Players/HighSchool.aspx). Enter organizations such as PGLC that operate as members of the Arizona Girls Lacrosse Association (AGLA), which functions under the umbrella of the Arizona chapter of US Lacrosse, the national governing body for both women’s and men’s lacrosse from youth leagues all the way up to college and post-collegiate programs. All girls who play on the PGLC are required to be members of US Lacrosse, which provides them with certain benefits, including insurance during games.
The PGLC (a 501c-3 organization) is run by an incredible group of passionate parents and coaches, including Laurel Chamberlin, the outgoing President who has been involved on the Board for four years. “We come out as fans first; when we see and feel the passion our kids have for this game, we ask ourselves…how can I become more involved? It’s the Pinnacle way.” With all of these organizations behind them and a strong board at the helm, led by incoming President Cary Winter, the PGLC’s future is nothing but bright.
While the majority of the girls on the PGLC varsity and junior varsity teams do attend Pinnacle High School, its club status allows the teams to pull from surrounding schools that do not have lacrosse teams as well—schools such as Cactus Shadows, Sunnyslope, Barry Goldwater, and even Explorer and Mountain Trail Middle Schools. This has been a win-win situation for girls who want to play and for PGLC, which reaps the rewards of talent from surrounding schools and areas without programs. The AGLA is considered a high school league; however, the absence of a youth league in Arizona allows 7th and 8th graders to play on the high school league’s junior varsity teams. Historically Pinnacle’s JV roster includes at least four or five 7th or 8th graders each season.
For a more detailed overview of the sport, its origins, and its growth, visit the US Lacrosse website at http://www.uslacrosse.org/UtilityNav/AboutTheSport/Overview.aspx. And if you’ve yet to see the movie Crooked Arrows, make a plan to do so. Even though the focus is a boys’ lacrosse team, it will give you a good overall feel for the origins of and passion for the game of lacrosse.
Lacrosse is truly like no other sport. Often described as a mix of basketball, soccer, and hockey, lacrosse is a fast-paced game that requires agility, speed, coordination, and—perhaps above all else—heart. To learn more about the Pinnacle Girls Lacrosse Club or to join for the 2013-2014 season, visit the PGLC website at http://pinnaclegirlslacrosse.com. Pre-season practices start the first week of November; in January, the girls are placed on either varsity or junior varsity, and the season officially gets underway. And ask any current player; it’s a game that pulls you in. Most girls would agree that once they put that stick in their hand, they were hooked.
“Pinnacle Heart Can’t Be Beat”.
