From hosting events and putting up posters, Bowie Girls Lacrosse continues to gain attention to their sport as competition season inches closer. The Lacrosse team brings many benefits to your health and social life and gives you a chance to participate in the fastest-growing sport in America.

The Girls Lacrosse captains, seniors Kinsley Quintanilla and Reese Wilson, played for the Bowie girls lacrosse all four years of their high school career. Over the years, Quintanilla and Wilson have seen the team grow close together and, because of it, create lifelong friends.

“The team culture is really awesome,” Quintanilla said. “This year we have a lot of new players so It’s been fun to meet everyone. We’ve been trying to have a lot of team bonding so everyone gets along. It’s truly been an encouraging environment where everyone is pushing each other to play the best they can.”

Since her freshman year, Sophomore Maly Janick has been a part of the team and saw many new athletes have a smooth transition onto the team.

“You don’t need much experience, all you really need is a good mindset,” Janick said. “Most of the equipment is provided too.”

Team member Nadia Ramirez has tried out many sports over her life; the introduction to lacrosse fascinated Ramirez, and they quickly grew to love the sport.

“Some aspects I have found interesting are definitely the sport itself,” Ramirez said. “The style of the game is a lot different from the sports I’ve played in the past. I have been an athlete my whole life and then finding the love of lacrosse through my friends and then learning the game was really fun.”

With many new members joining this year, the team continues to grow, learning new techniques and welcoming all who decide to attend practices or join the group. 

“I really want to get more athletes involved from other teams, we’ve always had lots of success with multi-sport athletes,” Wilson said. “We’ve had numerous girls join in the past from volleyball, track, cross country, and basketball teams and it’s insane to me how fast athlete intuition kicks in on the field; even when trying a new sport. Another way we could improve is building more of a community with our men’s team and trying to advertise our teams more together.”

Sophomore Andy Magana joined the lacrosse team after the deadline date. Although she joined late, the sport was easy to catch up with and gave her new experiences.

“[I got to] meet new people,” Magana said. “You [also] get to shove people, and wear mouth guards and goggles, which is funny.”

Not only as the sport creates new interest in the players, but the new coaches, Leslee Feldman and Marissa, have brought new energy to the team and improved training for the athletes.

“The coaches this year have been amazing; they both have helped add some structure to the program,” Quintanilla said. “They’ve also gone above and beyond to create a good foundation for everyone to work off of. Especially since they have a lot of experience coaching and playing lacrosse on a higher level.”

With the beginning of the season consisting mainly of practices and tournaments, Bowie girls lacrosse hopes to gain new players by the second semester when their season begins. 

“We go to Aggieland, which is a tournament in College Station, and we play in small tournaments with other schools every once in a while,” sophomore Ava Rainey said. “Then we play against other schools once our season starts.”

Practices for the team are at Bailey Middle school on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school and Saturdays from 9-11. To sign up or volunteer for Bowie girls lacrosse, you can go to Bowielax.com and email one of the head coaches.

“I feel like our season this year will be a totally new experience for our program,” Wilson said. “With only two seniors, including myself, and having the majority of our team be sophomores, this season will really challenge our younger girls to go all out in their playing,” Wilson said. This will definitely be a year to remember and look forward to.”