***
Let’s backtrack several years. I attended a New York Titans game for my 16th birthday, and my love for box lacrosse was born. It merged the sports I loved: basketball, hockey and lacrosse.
I could be King Henrik (talking about New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist!). After the game, we looked into opportunities to play box lacrosse, and there weren’t any viable options in the U.S., let alone for women. My love for box took a backseat for a while.
Fast forward to the summer of 2018 when I came home from California and coaching Division I to pursue my entrepreneurial spirit and again, “Bloomabilities.”
I was invited to U.S. U20 indoor tryouts to train. I had the amazing opportunity to work with Ginny Cappuchioni, the first woman to play in the NLL.
You know the part where the main character in a story gets the pep talk that launches them to greatness? This was not the uplifting talk that I imagined. It was more along the lines of a healthy and much-needed interrogation. Ginny questioning my intentions. That was the pep talk in the movie, just not the Disney version.
When a man decides to make an attempt at the NLL, no one questions it. It’s commonplace in athletics. For a woman playing a men’s sport, that’s a whole different story.
You have to be five times better than any man. You can never have a bad day, set or rep, or you’ll be painted as a token and made to feel like you don’t belong. Go home, Go cook. (For reference, I can’t cook to save my life. My running joke is that anytime I cook, the fire department will come, and not to join us for dinner).
“If you aren’t ready for the backlash, don’t try,” is basically what Ginny said.
I want to play at the highest level I can, for as long as I can, to inspire the next generation and pave the way. More “Bloomabilities” for others.
After U.S. U20s and playing in the Boston Box League in 2018, I decided to play bigger events against the best. I felt confident.
My enthusiasm to play in these bigger sponsored events was not always met with the same excitement. Women are still not allowed to play box or field lacrosse in some regions in North America. One box event had even waited until I was geared up and on the floor to tell me I wasn’t welcome.
Nonetheless, I persevered and put my name in the hat for The U.S. men’s indoor squad. I didn’t get enough votes to make it to tryouts. The number wasn’t zero, though. Again, “Bloomabilities.”
It was time to try another route.
I joined the Cambridge Nor’Easters, and with that came more three-plus hour drives from Hartsdale, NY, to Boston and back. (I was also the first woman to ever start and play in the IBLA.) With this, I truly felt ready. The box community now knew Rachel Vallarelli.
I wasn’t just this field lacrosse goalie anymore — I was something more. I became the box goalie who just happened to be a chick, who just happened to have a great career at UMass, who just happened to be a field goalie.
Now, it’s two more steps forward.
I was invited to the NLL U.S. Elite Combine in the summer of 2019. I was so excited to be the first woman ever invited. With that came the looming thought of women in sport: How will this be perceived? I kept reminding myself that I was being asked for a reason, and that it was my shot.
It just wasn’t a combine invite. It was filming “a day in the life,” too. I pondered whether this was just a publicity stunt. If so, thanks, but no thanks.
I didn’t want people to think I got where I am because I am a woman. I wanted them to think it was because I am damn good at what I do. The couch quarterbacks would try and connect dots that aren’t even there.
Devan Kaney, senior producer with the NLL, told me that was not the case. I had earned my opportunity, and they wanted to show others my story. I agreed to be filmed and prepared for the backlash.
Here’s the thing, the backlash never came. Some showered praise and acceptance. Others said it inspired them to play. Girls and boys, men and women around the country reacting positively to the news that someone like them was attempting to play professional box lacrosse.
Once I got to the NLL Elite Combine, some of the guys were more than supportive, while others had a more colorful array of comments. If we were rating movies, they would range from G-rated to R-rated.
Many of the guys wanted to make sure this was no publicity stunt. They wanted to see if you can take the heat. Some were still skeptical, of course. Once they realize you know what you’re talking about and know what you’re doing, they want you to stick around.
“She’s good, she’s legit,” they’d say.
It’s an initiation. They let you know if you are welcome. The interesting thing is, though, some get mad when you show how good you are. It’s a double-edged sword. Many of these players don’t like being shown up by a girl. Sometimes the officials don’t like it either.
“How dare a woman be better? It’s not right. It’s not natural. Men are stronger, more dominant and just plain better, right?”
Some try to prove that by words, others through actions.
In the end, I earned their respect. If you are going to check a goalie into the boards for going for a loosie (ground ball-speak in box), you better be doing it to me, too.
Treat me just like everyone else, or tougher. If you don’t, I won’t know where I stand and I won’t be treating anyone else that way.
I’m saying all this after being checked into the boards so hard that I was flipped over and making snow angels on the floor, trying to get up. I still had the ball, though. My guys cleared the bench and got into an all-out brawl.
“That’s my goalie!” It was then that I realized the importance of enforcers.
But I had earned their respect. I was one of the guys.