STANFORD, Calif. - A few Stanford women's lacrosse seniors reflect back on their final trip together and their careers in Cardinal.
A day-by-day blog of Stanford's trip to Fiji and New Zealand can be found here.
A full photo gallery from the trip can be found here.
-- #44 Allie DaCar --Throughout the fall and into preseason, our captains designed a weekly reflection for us. These were quick reflections, including questions like: Why are you playing lacrosse this week? What are you grateful for this week? What is your goal for the week? We would think about our answers to these questions and share them with the rest of the team in our GroupMe. I distinctly remember that for the first week of preseason, my reason for playing lacrosse that week was for the younger version of me: that eighth grade awkward child who fell in love with the game of lacrosse. I think every collegiate athlete can agree that at times our sport feels like a chore. Although we all still love the sport, we sometimes we forget to have fun. I knew that this past season would be my last season of lacrosse (excluding maybe a pick-up game or tournament sometime in the future), and my goal was to bring that love of the game back. I made it to Stanford only with the help of that hungry, energetic, smaller BaeCar who wanted to do nothing else but play lacrosse. And there I was that first week of preseason about to wrap up my career as a lacrosse player. I wanted to play for that kid again. Without a doubt, I can say my last season was the best, most memorable year since I started playing lacrosse, and I certainly remembered to have fun.
And I think it was fitting that we ended the notable season (and my career) with an incredible ten days around the other side of the world. I have to say my favorite part of the trip was our clinic in Fiji; in those overjoyed children, I saw that awkward Allie who fell in love with lacrosse. Except these children were by no means awkward; they in fact were more athletic than I am (even currently), and they picked up lacrosse two-thousand times faster than I did. But they were in love. None of them had ever seen the game of lacrosse and the smiles on their faces were just priceless when they caught their first lacrosse ball. It brought me back to my ACE experience in Vietnam last summer, only this time instead of teaching soccer, I was growing the sport that has been the emblem of my time at Stanford. It was appropriate that in my last Stanford lacrosse trip ever, I could share my love of the game with children who had just started to love the game. I guess it's true, lacrosse really does make friends! I have 34 Stanford friends from this year that will never be strangers, and I think I made some Fijian Facebook friends from our quick encounter :) -- #14 Sydney Shaw --
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to travel abroad with my team and my coaches. I want to thank Amy, Cookie and Chelsea for working so hard to make this trip happen. It was an experience I will never forget.
With so many great memories made during my time in New Zealand, it is hard to pick my favorite. This trip was the last time that the 2017-18 team would be together, so I cherished every second with my teammates. One evening in Rotorua about 11 of my teammates and I went for a run around the lake. We stopped at a grassy spot around sunset and we all decided to start doing ab exercises. As I sat around the circle of my teammates, doing 30 second Ab exercises, I could not help but laugh at how despite (me personally) being graduated and not being in season, we all still gathered together to be healthy and competitive. I also could not help but laugh at Dillon and Monika, who both sat in geese poop, and at the overwhelming smell of sulfur.
When I ran with my teammates around the lake, I realized that it was probably the last time that I would ever be with these girls doing something I love. I am so lucky to have spent this year and this trip abroad with such a special team and I look forward to cheering on the 2018-19 team next year as they play for their second Pac-12 championship!!
-- #21 Kelsey Murray --This year, we talked a lot about finding our why. Our coaches challenged each of us to look deep inside and figure out why we were here and why we wanted to be a part of the 2018 Stanford women's lacrosse team. One of my whys is that I absolutely love the sport of lacrosse. I love how much fun I have when I play. This foreign tour gave me the opportunity to say goodbye to my college career on a positive note (albeit, with some fresh turf burns and hail whipping in my face). I am so thankful for that. I'm also thankful for the opportunity to spread this wonderful game beyond our borders. It is great how big lacrosse has become in the US, but to be able to run clinics in Fiji and New Zealand and share my passion for the game across the world was an amazing experience. I love playing lacrosse and I love sharing lacrosse. It made it easy for this love to be my why.
But while my love of the game may have been what brought me to Stanford lacrosse five years ago, it was definitely not the only thing keeping me here for 2018. My other why is the people and relationships that I have formed. That was the other amazing part of this foreign tour, being able to celebrate and cherish my last 10 days as a member of this team, with this coaching staff and these teammates. I loved trading book recommendations while everyone read on the beach in Fiji, or singing out loud to the music and looking at the smiles on everyone's faces at Giapo (because seriously, that French fry gelato required a smile - yes, I'm still thinking about the French fries). I loved when our entire team ran to the top of the Waitomo lookout when we heard that Chelsea got engaged to share in one of the happiest moments of her life and I loved dancing to wedding music with everyone on the way back down. There were so many big moments to love about this trip.
And there were also so many little moments to love, moments that make being part of a team so special. Sitting in my room staying up late talking to my roommates about anything. Going for a (very, very light) jog and ending up doing a core circuit with everyone you see running because working out in a group is always easier. Watching our team rush up to every buffet table like we haven't been fed in days (we were usually fed about two hours prior). Having Cookie meander back through the bus seats just to check how everyone is doing, or maybe play a game. How Amy is always the first person to offer a bite of her own meal because inevitably whatever she ordered looks better than your food. This trip gave me the chance to appreciate and cherish all of the big and little moments that make being part of this team so special. While the experiences we had were amazing and once in a lifetime, being able to share them with the 2018 Stanford lax team is what made it unforgettable. Thank you to Amy, Chelsea, Cookie, all of my teammates, Douglas & Kellee, the Umbachs, Lulu and every single person who made this trip possible - I couldn't have asked for a better way to end my run with Stanny lax!