This season, around half of the athletes on the DVHS boys lacrosse team are new to the sport. In the team, which doesn’t have enough members to create varsity and junior varsity teams, all the newcomers play alongside more seasoned athletes on the varsity team. As the season progresses, the team has focused on familiarizing new members on the foundations of lacrosse.

“Half of this team is brand new to lacrosse,” Head Coach Trenton Shannon said. “And so it’s about teaching them the basics: how to pass, catch and shoot. It’s a lot of practicing the fundamentals.” 

Shannon aims to see each player improve in the sport, no matter their level of experience.

“I remember the first day of practice, there were kids who literally never held the stick,” Shanno said. “After two or three months of practice and just being exposed to the sport, seeing how much better they are is really rewarding.”

DVHS’ lacrosse team has a 2-12 record, with wins against Moreau Catholic High School and Dublin High School on March 3 and March 10. The Wildcats come in at 10th out of the 10 teams in the East Bay Athletic League (EBAL). Shannon attributes their performance to the newness of the sport and the team’s adjustment to the loss of last year’s seniors.

“There are things that you can’t really teach in practice,” Shannon said. “You have to play a game, and that just gives them the exposure on how the game is actually played.”

This year, the lacrosse team has benefitted from working with the company ReLax Collections, which distributes new and used lacrosse equipment. This partnership allowed players to borrow sticks and other lacrosse equipment without purchasing them and helped newcomers adjust to the sport. To assistant coach Joren Reyes, this program has also changed the class expectations regarding lacrosse. 

“It was considered a rich people sport, an Ivy League sport, because that’s where it was played,” Reyes said. “But we definitely wanted that stigma to change, because it’s really cool.”

Despite their current record, the team looks forward to facing Dublin again at the Wildcats’ last game of the season on April 28. 

Reyes said, “If I were to use one word to describe the team, I’d say “determined.” Determined to learn the game, get better at it, fight through no matter what the scoreboard says and grow our team and the game of lacrosse.”