By: Zoe Vincze, Laasya Kakumanu, Anya Kakarlapudi, Emilie Dunoye

Cincinnati- The Seven Hills School has always been dedicated to sports. The middle school lacrosse team, with Mr.Waskowitz as the main coach, has worked to improve deeply in skills and good sportsmanship. 

The middle school girls’ lacrosse team is a hopeful team determined to win. More than half of the team is relatively new to lacrosse. Mr. Waskowitz said, “We started with a pretty inexperienced team.” The girls’ lacrosse team improved a lot and aspires to be better every practice and game. 

Mr. Waskowitz, the Seven Hills lacrosse coach, has been committed to lacrosse for a long time. “I spent eight years playing and 34 years coaching,” he said. He started playing in high school and continued the sport until college. He later converted to coaching.

The girls’ lacrosse team’s record is 5-5. “The season started tough but the girls have improved a lot,” Mr Waskowitz said. It is clear to see the team’s improvement throughout the season, but losses can be tough. 

Mr. Waskowitz always says, “Over, next.” This is his favorite mantra. It means the past can’t be changed so moving forward will improve everyone for later. Focusing on the losses that happen won’t help one grow as a player.

Mr. Waskowitz believes that losses can’t make our future but wins have an impact that significantly affects how one can view their future. Celebrating a win and feeling that joy is a feeling that should be celebrated. To celebrate a win, Mr. Waskowitz calls out and compliments every player about something that they exceeded during their game.  

He said that “one of the main challenges of coaching a middle school team is that everyone is at different experience levels.” The team helps with this by supporting their teammates and providing each other with suggestions.

Another thing Mr. Waskowitz loves about coaching a team is seeing the players in a setting outside of a school environment. “I love being with the students in a different environment.” He loves how close the team got to each other. The players are comfortable with each other and call their teammates out and celebrate their hard work. 

The goalkeeper is one of the most stressful and hardest positions on the lacrosse field. But this does not worry Zoya Samawi, the goalkeeper for the Seven Hills lacrosse team. 

She said, “The most important part is knowing that all the shots taken can’t be blocked.”

Zoya knows exactly what’s happening during her games. “As a goalkeeper, I see everything the girls don’t,” said Zoya. She is who her teammates look up to for guidance. She can always guide the girls in the right direction because she has an overview of the whole field. 

Being a goalkeeper, you have to have complete trust in your team. Considering how close this team got, it wasn’t hard for Zoya. The whole team supports each other and has an open mindset by knowing losses are opportunities to learn. 

Overall, the lacrosse team has made a noticeable improvement and will continue to work towards exceeding goals. The team has learned to have good sportsmanship and has all bonded well to develop a family-like relationship.