INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM Emily Erickson '06 takes time out to talk lax

Author: Tom McCann

The Campus: So, why lacrosse?
Emily Erickson: Well, I played lacrosse, basketball and field hockey in high school and I thought about playing all of them here, but decided that there was other stuff that I wanted to do. I kinda thought lacrosse would be a cool sport to play since we've done pretty well traditionally at Middlebury, so I went for it and it's been great.
TC: When did you start playing?
EE: Eighth grade. My dad actually played lacrosse and he said, "why don't you try this?" and so I did - and I liked it a lot better than softball.
TC: Why is Middlebury so good at lacrosse?
EE: I don't know - I think a lot of it starts with the coaches because they do a great job of recruiting and trying to get great players to come. The first time that the team was successful drew players to recognize it and Missy Foote has been around for 25 years or something like that so she knows what she's doing. I think that's probably the main reason and just the fact that I think the mindset of the team is really positive - it's competitive, I mean we work hard in practice, but we don't go at each other or get competitive within the team and that helps us be tight on the field and we hang out a lot off the field too - we get on pretty well.
TC: Do you do anything tactically that's different from other teams?
EE: We play a zone defense - that's sort of different from a lot of the other teams. A lot of them play man to man. That's something that we work on a lot and it's something we're pretty proud of because we work really hard to make it pretty tight and successful. A lot of teams have a hard time playing against it because they don't have one to practice against. That's probably one of the main things - we try to fast break a lot too - we have a pretty good transition game.
TC: What will you miss least about Middlebury lacrosse?
EE: [Laughs] Probably some of the conditioning that we do. One thing I will actually not miss is the pre-season conditioning tests that we do on our first day. It's pretty rough - it's the day before we start practicing with sticks so it's push-ups, sit-ups, abdominal stuff, sprints, two mile runs etc… Fortunately, we just do it at the beginning of the season - it's a part of tryouts and then from there we just kinda do conditioning at the end of practice a lot, but nothing that intense.
TC: Why is lacrosse catching on?
EE: I don't know, - I'm from Maine, and when I was in high school it was really only a southern Maine thing and now it's spreading like crazy - suddenly the Midwest and California have a lot more teams. I think it's partly because people are realizing how fun it is to play. It's got some stuff that's like basketball as far as situational stuff and plays and the way you play defense and then it's like soccer because it's fast and you're running up and down the field a lot. I think people are realizing that it's fairly simple to learn the basics - you just get a stick and learn to catch and you're set, so I think it's fairly easy, relatively inexpensive - you don't need a lot of equipment - and it's a lot fun.
TC: Is there still a stigma attached to lacrosse?
EE: A little bit, as far as it being a preppy sport, yeah. I think there is, I mean it's definitely still a lot more prevalent in New England - in the prep schools - and a lot more competitive probably, but I think that's lessening as it spreads. Now a lot more kids are having a chance to play and lot of the inner city athletes who maybe didn't get to play lacrosse but are really great athletes are now being able to play and it's becoming a lot less just a private school sport.
TC: Skirts or shorts?
EE: I mean, we always practice in shorts, obviously, but skirts are just a traditional part of the uniform - I don't have anything against it, I guess. Actually, they've got to the point where it's not uncomfortable or awkward and it really doesn't feel any different to shorts so it's not that big of a deal.
TC: Who's the biggest jokester on the team?
EE: We've got a couple. Probably Whitney Wildrick, the sophomore goalie - she's pretty wild, but yeah, we've got a couple of jokesters.
TC: Who's the player most likely to not wake up for a morning game?
EE: [Laughs] Maybe Amanda Smith '08 because she's a little bit of a space cadet sometimes.
TC: If you could change one rule about lacrosse what would it be?
EE: They've actually just put a couple of rule changes in. Now there are hard boundaries and there didn't used to be. It used to be that when the ball goes out of bounds, it was the first person that got to it got it back, but they've changed it this year so that if you pass it out the other team gets a turnover, which makes sense. I think it makes you concentrate on skills a lot more than just speed and running after it.
TC: Do your post-graduation plans include lacrosse?
EE: I hope so, at some point. I love to coach, so I'd really like to coach at some level but not necessarily college - but high school maybe, or younger kids.
TC: Have you won a national championship with Middlebury?
EE: My sophomore year, yeah.
TC: So if you win this year will you dedicate your ring to The Middlebury Campus?
EE: [Laughs] I guess so - I'll think about it.
- Tom McCann, Sports Editor