As Nov. begins, so does Chillax, a student-led winter lacrosse league for players to improve their skills before the regular season starts in early April. Park’s girls lacrosse team has been practicing through Chillax for the past few years, having scrimmages every Sunday.
According to head coach Kate Pearson, Chillax has a wide variety of benefits, especially for younger players, and is a chance for growth for the entire team.
“Chillax allows our team to play together with new people, start to play with a younger group of girls and continue to work on stick skills,” Pearson said.
Senior captain Ashley Berry said Chillax allows for the team to begin playing with each other before the regular season begins and provides time to focus on specific skills. She said Chillax helps the girls play at a more advanced level before the regular season.
“Chillax helps us get to know each other and get to know each other’s playing styles without actually being in season and having it being crucial to our games,” Berry said. “It helps us introduce new ideas, and we are really focusing on having a higher level of play and making it faster, so speeding up our Chillax play will help us in the regular season.”
According to senior Savannah Davis, the league’s casual atmosphere helps the team bond more before the regular season. She said Chillax helps the team to be more close-nit due to effective communication.
“Chillax is more chill and less structured, especially because we don’t have a coach with us at games, which means we have to talk to each other more than we would during the regular season,” Davis said. “It’s a good way to bond before the regular season starts.”
Pearson said the leadership from the captains and older players on the team allows Chillax to be an effective form of pre-season practice that benefits the team.
“Our captains have stepped up, and they understand what our team needs and what the coaches are looking for out of our team,” Pearson said. “We also have a group of seniors and veteran players in general who support our captains to make sure everything runs smoothly.”
Berry said her main goals going into the regular season are to lead and be a person her teammates feel comfortable going to. She said she would like to be reliable if someone needs help contacting a coach.
“As a captain, I want to be inclusive because we’ve had issues with that in the past with players not feeling like they can talk to people. I just want to make sure that people know I’m someone they can talk to and be a middleman between a coach or players,” Berry said. “I’m hoping getting to know younger players through chillax will help create that bond.”
Davis said Chillax allows the team to see their progress from the winter to the regular season and helps players rely on each other more, supporting team growth.
“Chillax gives us a better view of our communication and how we work during the winter versus how we are during the spring,” Davis said. “It allows us to see each other grow, so it also helps us give each other the benefit of the doubt.”
Park’s girls lacrosse team’s next scrimmages are at 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., Nov 24 against Shakopee and Rosemount at the Savage Sports Center.
