I am grateful for my new budding family - a beautiful baby girl and a loving supportive husband. I am grateful that I have such a supportive family and such an inspiring lacrosse family: fellow coaches, players, and others in the lacrosse network that support and push me to be my best. Finally, I am grateful for SNOW. That's right I said it, SNOW! Grateful to go snowboarding this winter and every day I get to be on the mountain. – Nora Fallon-Oben, Head Coach, Hartwick College
Gratitude – everyday at practice we have a player start out practice stating what they are grateful for. I am grateful for being able to coach such a thoughtful team of young women who recognize and embrace the importance of having gratitude and expressing it in their everyday lives. I am grateful for those in my life that surround me with positivity and support me through tough times. I am grateful for my wife who supports me daily as I navigate through uncharted waters. I am also forever grateful for being able to live in the state of Maine, doing what I love, and being able to take full advantage of the endless outdoor opportunities it presents – there is no better feeling than being outside on the ocean or in the mountains in Maine. Thank you, mother nature. – Liz Grote, Head Coach, Bowdoin College
What I am thankful for this year is the opportunity to be a mother to my beautiful, determined, and quite precocious, son. With the window of opportunity narrowing with every passing birthday, I wasn't sure that having a child was in the cards for us - but last September I gave birth to a miracle boy. I have learned the true meaning of unconditional love and am so thankful I have to the opportunity to be a mom. I am also thankful for the opportunity to return to my lacrosse roots at the Division II level and rebuild a program with some of the most hardworking, patient and "bought-in" student athletes I have ever coached. Balancing being a new mom and a "new" coach certainly had its challenges, however both experiences lead to some of the most rewarding times of my life. Cheers to 2022 and I look forward to 2023! – Carissa Medeiros, Head Coach, Southern New Hampshire State University
I am grateful for the practice of gratitude. This season our team partnered with Grateful Peoples, a non-for-profit that “was founded on the idea that if we focus on getting the most out of the present moment, we set up the best possible foundation for our future.” We spent some time on a Zoom with the company founder hearing about his story and the work he is doing with Grateful Peoples and everyone was given a gratitude journal to use. The simple practice of writing down two or three things a day you are grateful for was a little strange at first and took some getting used to. After a few weeks it became habit and I now find myself looking for things daily to be grateful for. I am taking note of positivity in small moments that I would have otherwise looked past, and I catch myself reframing the challenges of daily life in the positive rather than the negative a little more often. I also found my team adopted a more grateful and positive attitude this spring. Their willingness and ability to see the positive and step back with perspective on the challenges they were faced with was noticeable. I also heard them saying “thank you” a bit more often to the people around them, teammates, coaches, bus drivers, game day staff; it became a phrase that we heard often over the smallest of things rather than reserved for big obvious things. It was not a change that happened over night, but little by little, day by day, the skill of practicing gratitude is now a bit easier for my team and me. And for that I am very grateful! – Michelle Smith, Head Coach, Babson College
I am extremely thankful for the support system I have and the ways in which I have grown over the last year with their guidance and encouragement. I am thankful for the lifelong friends I have found and my awesome family my Savior has blessed me with. I was so fortunate enough to add the lacrosse community to my circle and I’m excited to see what lies ahead! – Tiffany Taylor, IWLCA Manager of Communications and Marketing
I am grateful for each one of my student-athletes and their individual unique qualities that make our team us! I am grateful for the trust that each of my student-athlete’s families have placed in me and my staff. I am grateful for the friends and colleagues who have become family throughout my coaching career. I am grateful for the unwavering support and love of my family, especially my husband, Chuck. – Kelly Gallagher, Head Coach, University of Tampa
In a year full of life changes and new challenges, I am most grateful for my family. First and foremost, I am grateful for my little ray of sunshine, Santino. Thank you for giving me a greater purpose. I am thankful for the endless support from my husband, Greg. From hitting the recruiting trail with us this summer, to being a single parent every weekend this fall, I am forever grateful for his support of my career. For my parents, especially my mom, who spent six straight days in the Hilton Anatole last week... thank you to anyone who took the time to chat with her at the breaks and socials, she can’t wait for Florida next year! For my Ohio State family, I am grateful every day to be a Buckeye for life! Finally, our IWLCA family – I could not be more thankful for the relationships that I have built through this great community. – Gabby Capuzzi Solomon, Associate Head Coach, Ohio State University
My people. Everyone has a group of people, people that you can lean on during the tough times in coaching, that lift you up when you win in coaching, and the ones that can guide you during the challenging times in coaching. The IWLCA Convention is always a week of relief for me; I get to see my people, and I am always so thankful for the time spent with them. Time spent, learning, growing, laughing, planning, and connecting (if you can’t tell I’m a Convention stan). It’s another layer of inspiration and motivation to tackle the upcoming spring, it reminds you; you aren’t alone. I always leave Convention feeling comforted and happy to be in this profession, that gave me such a supportive group of people. Happy Thanksgiving! – Kirkland Lewis, Head Coach, Furman University