The struggles for the LM girls’ lacrosse team to secure and maintain coaches began long before this year. Heading into their 2022 season, the team found themselves with nobody to coach them. To find a quick solution, Jason Stroup, the head of the athletics and activities department, recruited his own sister, Kara Stroup, to serve as the varsity coach. As an NXT coach, she was able to bring with her two other assistant coaches from their club team. That year, they secured a total of four varsity coaches and one JV coach. Unfortunately this year, the team was informed that K. Stroup, along with the two other coaches she brought in, were not going to be returning for the upcoming season this spring. Additionally, their JV coach, who was previously a health teacher at LM, was relocated in the district leaving the program with not a single coach between two teams.
The struggle in securing coaching staff for the girls’ lacrosse team has been a recurring challenge, stretching back several seasons, which has made the team’s journey uncertain and unstable. Faced with this sudden vacancy in leadership, the Aces found themselves in a situation that they unfortunately had faced before only two years ago. With no coaches to guide them, they were left to their own devices in preparation for the upcoming season. Maggie Milby ’25, a member of the team since her freshman year, reflected on the challenging circumstances, stating that they “ran an entire fall league and a winter league that was organized and coached by [themselves].” There was immense determination and dedication from the players, who took it upon themselves to ensure that their season would not be derailed by the absence of coaching staff.
Fortunately, the girls were recently notified that the athletics department found a coach for them from Upper Merion, Monica Harmon, who will assume the leadership role for the rest of this season. However, this doesn’t come without concern and hesitation from the team. As the news of the coaching changes spread, discussions among team members and parents swirled with questions and concerns about the impact on team dynamics, training routines, and overall morale. Milby explains “we now only have one coach for a JV and a varsity team which is not ideal.” Comparably, there were a total of five coaches in 2022, even after they faced a struggle to secure them. This included not only the head coach, but also assistant coaches and an entirely separate coach for JV. Accordingly, she continued, “I’m not sure how the season will progress,” but she’s hopeful they’ll find another coach for JV. Ana Byler ‘25 added on saying that “we were kind of underprepared going into the season because we didn’t have a coach to guide us during our preseason and offseason.” Recently, there have been concerns from parents who are unsure about the change in leadership and how that will affect their children, especially the large sum of freshmen that are in the midst of their tryouts for their first year on the team.
Despite recent struggles, the girls remain hopeful that they will have a strong and well coached season for both teams. Alessia Dunlevy ’25 expressed that, “despite recent hardships, the team showed their ability to work around the situation in the fall and the winter while we ran our own training.” She further explained,“the team remained incredibly strong early in the year while they were led by their senior players.” In the face of adversity, LM girls’ lacrosse demonstrated remarkable strength and unity. Their ability to persevere and overcome obstacles serves as a testament to their passion for the sport and their commitment to success, both on and off the field.
