Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: Trent Alexander Arnold.
Favorite team: Definitely Liverpool FC in the premier league. I have been a fan of them since 2014, and I love watching premier league games on Saturday and Sunday mornings with my family. They have been pretty successful over the past few years, and I admire their team dynamic and Jurgen Klopps coaching style.
Favorite memory competing in sports: My favorite sports memory was this lacrosse season when I scored the overtime game winner against Pennridge.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: At one club lacrosse tournament a few years back at the Naval Academy, it was a rainy day, and my team was playing on a muddier field. We had the ball on attack, and I went to goal and missed the shot but as the other team started transitioning out I completely face planted into a mud pit while attempting to re-defend and my teammates Abby and Lydia just started dying laughing at me. It is such a funny moment to look back on and talk about.
Music on Playlist: I am usually in charge of the lacrosse team’s playlist, and this season we have been obsessed with the song “We are One” by Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez. But I also love “Right Hand” by Drake and “Hey Ya” by the Outkast to get into game mode.
Future plans: I am planning to attend the University of South Carolina and major in business. I am super excited about their business school it has the best International Business undergraduate degree in the country, and I am hoping to apply into that major after freshmen year. I also plan on playing on their club lacrosse team and eventually going abroad!
Words to live by: I have a sign on my bedroom door that says, “She Believed She Could So She Did,” and I see that every day. I think it is a good reminder and I definitely believe it’s true.
One goal before turning 30: A goal I have would be to travel the world and experience different cultures and places. I think that seeing different countries will have a big impact on my worldview and have a positive impact on my life.
One thing people do not know about me: I named my second dog, Lexi, after Lexi Grey because I love Grey’s Anatomy.
By GORDON GLANTZ
There are a lot of ingredients that make up the chemistry of a successful team.
Most coaches would place strong leadership at, or near, the top of the list.
When it comes to the Central Bucks South lacrosse squad, head coach Janique Craig has enjoyed that strong leadership from senior attacker Kate Victor.
“One hundred percent,” Craig affirmed. “Kate has been a varsity starter since she has been a freshman and has been a leader on our team. Kate has really stepped up this year to lead our attack, as we had four players injured this year, which was tough on our team. Kate has so much passion for the game of lacrosse and for her team, which is a rare quality.
“Kate is a vocal leader, and helps direct her teammates on the field. Kate is very good at seeing the open players and assisting on goals as well. Off the field, Kate gets everyone motivated and fired up to play. Her passion and energy drives the team to be successful.”
The leadership runs from being in charge of the team playlist to more serious matters for Victor, who is bound for the University of South Carolina, where she will major in business.
“When we get into huddles, I rile the girls up and get the focus points out there,” said Victor, whose highlight of the senior season was scoring early into overtime, on assist from Grace Gannon, against rival Pennridge.
“We have a little thing where, if we’re in the huddle and the girls aren’t really paying attention, (Craig) will give me a little look that says, like, ‘we have to get them in line.’ Just because of the fact I have been playing lacrosse so long, and playing with girls who just picked it up for high school, helps that I can explain things to them.”
What Victor is most proud of is how her team has persevered after the current group of seniors lost their sophomore season due to COVID.
“Junior year, we definitely had some struggles, but I do feel like the COVID year that we missed, you can see the progress this year,” she said. “We are all such a tight-knit group of seniors, and I think a lot of that is because of what we all lost together.
“We hadn’t made playoffs at all, and that was a big goal for us, coming into the season. This was our year to come back and to bring CB South lacrosse back to where it was.”
Weighing Options
Although she gave up playing soccer herself, Victor remains a huge fan of the game, with her favorite team being Liverpool.
“It’s just very entertaining,” she said. “I just sat down one day and watched some games, even though it’s not really popular here.”
Victor’s younger siblings play, and her father coaches, but her participation is strictly as a fan.
“I played when I was younger, but it just didn’t really stick,” she said, adding that she began playing field hockey and lacrosse in third grade, but stopped field hockey for a bit before picking it back up again in middle school.
Studying abroad also shaped her college choice, and the difficult decision to give up playing lacrosse at another school that may not have met her other needs.
“Within the school, there are lot of opportunities, and I can choose to go to any continent,” she said. “There are a lot of country options, but I would definitely like to start off in London. I have a friend studying in Austria right now, and that seems really cool. I’d say Europe is my focus point. It’s not as much of a culture shock, with me being so young.”
Plus, there is another advantage.
She will be where soccer is called football and is practically a religion.
“Exactly, yeah,” she agreed, while adding that she wants to eventually see as much of the world as she can as a young adult.
Admittedly, though, it will be difficult adjustment not playing lacrosse on a competitive level.
“It’s definitely a hard thing for me to let go of,” she said. “It had been a goal of mine for so long. But I think lacrosse has given me a lot over the last few years. I know what it has done for me. I don’t regret closing the chapter. It’s always going to be a part of my life.”
It’s not as if Victor, a top-level club player for Ultimate Elite who just scored her 100th career goal in a lopsided loss to Pennsbury (when a postseason and chance for the century mark was not assured), didn’t have options to play at the next level.
“I definitely did have a couple of good Division I offers on the table,” said Victor, who plans to at least play club lacrosse at South Carolina. “It just came down to them not really being the type of school environment I wanted to be in. I definitely wanted to go to a bigger school with more of a college feel. Some of the other schools were just a little smaller or not really in a great location. I wanted to go somewhere warm, and that’s a little bit tough with lacrosse.”
Crushed by COVID
After making varsity as a freshman, and starting almost every game, Victor was looking forward to continuing to make an imprint as a sophomore.
Then, as the spring season was about to take hold, COVID struck and wiped out the campaign.
“That was tough,” she said. “When we first got shut down, our athletic director came out to our lacrosse practice and told us to go home. At first, we were just off for two weeks, but then we realized it wasn’t going to happen.
“It was pretty upsetting to learn that we lost a whole season and that we weren’t coming back to school at all.”
Any hope for relief in the summer was lost as well.
Recalled Victor: “It was even worse when the summer rolled around and we realized we weren’t going to have a club season. I definitely like the summers. Playing on my club team are some of my best memories. I loved all the girls there, and it was really tough not to be able to get out there with them every day. It was the first summer of my life that I didn’t play lacrosse all summer long and go to tournaments every other weekend. It just felt like so much was missing.”
Looking beyond the lost summer, there were negative ripple effects with school team.
“It was frustrating for me a lot, too, because I felt like I had made a lot of progress as a freshman, playing-wise, and had gotten a lot better,” she said. “I was excited to get back on the field and make a difference on the team at South more than I had done my freshman year. In my freshman year, I had taken more of a reserved role on the team. That was tough.”
Victor said that working alone at home on her lacrosse skills became her “only outlet,” so she doesn’t feel like her skills eroded much during the prolonged layoff.
“I definitely used lacrosse as a way to get through not being able to see anybody,” she said, adding that her club team eventually started to have summer practices.
However, Victor is wistful about what might been, in terms of playing at the next level, had COVID not struck and wiped out a key season.
“COVID mostly had a negative impact on my recruiting process for lacrosse,” she said. “That was the biggest summer of my life, leading up to my junior year. I definitely didn’t have enough film. I didn’t have enough exposure. It stunted the early months. That was frustrating for sure.”
And while it’s hard to have a crystal ball, she does wonder what might have been.
“If I had a regular year that year, I would definitely like to think that I would have gotten a better opportunity,” said Victor, who also was on the tennis team up until this her senior year. “College coaches weren’t able to come out and watch our games. They were recruiting based on film. Some of my film isn’t the greatest. It didn’t really represent my playing ability. It’s not a highlight reel. It’s more the personality, leadership abilities, field vision and lacrosse IQ.”
Wise Night Owl
There is more to Victor than a fierce competitor and leader on the lacrosse field.
She carries it over to the classroom, where she boasts a weighted GPA in the 4.3 range, putting her on track for Magna Cum Laude status, as she takes a whopping five AP classes.
Victor – thanking her coaches and her parents, Erin and Jeremy – for being her “No. 1 supporters” also added that her sleep schedule adds to her success.
“I’m definitely a night owl,” she said, adding that her friends were all extremely helpful during the stress of senior year. “If I have homework to do, I’m staying up to do it. I can’t really wake up. I have late arrival this year, which is really nice. I can get up at 8 every day, instead of 6:30.”
Victor also served on National Honor Society as an upperclassman and, among her litany of academic honors was a prestigious West Point award as a freshman.
“That award is basically for a student-athlete who shines and off the field,” said Victor, whose other volunteer activities include Athletes Helping Athletes and refereeing youth field hockey for the Warrington-Warwick Youth Association and lining the field for Warrington soccer.
This all begs the question of how she manages her time.
Her answer is a simple one.
“Honestly, I don’t really know, but it seems like the busier I am, the most efficient I work,” she said. “If I have less down time, I get more work done and stay on track. I have never really had an issue balancing academics and athletics because I enjoy both of them. I value both of them. I like to learn, and it’s an important thing in my life. I make sure I make time for it.”
