ERDENHEIM – Springfield’s lacrosse team spent Friday night eating pizza and watching the ‘The Stepfather’ together at Morgan Smith’s house.
“We were in the mood for a scary movie,” Smith said.
On Saturday, the Spartans did some more team bonding – this time for a worthy cause as they participated in the 9th Annual Springfield Lacrosse-A-Thon to raise funds for the Deb MacFarland-Corrigan Memorial Fund.
“You’re with the team the whole day, and it really helps to get to know the team,” Smith said. “We’re really trying to come together.
“It reflects on and off the field and builds trust in your team and accountability. They become not only your teammates but your best friends.”
Three SOL teams – Springfield, Hatboro-Horsham and Central Bucks South – as well as Gwynedd Mercy Academy, Penn Wood, Mount St. Joseph’s Academy and Lower Merion participated in the event.
“The best part of the day is being able to see other teams playing and getting a feel for teams out of our league and being able to see what they play like and also being able to play them and adjust to different styles,” Springfield’s Maggie Olson said. “It’s cool to be around girls that all have the same interests as you.
“I don’t necessarily know everybody, and a lot of these girls are our competitors, but it’s still kind of cool to be able to come here and play lacrosse all day.”
The motivation for the event, according to Springfield coach Ken Rodoff, is two-fold.
“I keep going back to the Katie Samson Tournament, and I thought that was a really great model of a lacrosse play day that brings a lot of teams together, brings the community together for some decent competition and to celebrate what I think is one of the best sports,” he said. “So, in my time coaching here, we’ve always wanted to do something as a program that was philanthropic, so we started the lacrosse-a-thon nine years ago.”
The first lacrosse-a-thon featured the Spartans obtaining sponsors and playing for 10 straight hours on the field. After the 2002 passing of MacFarland-Corrigan – who attended Springfield and later taught and coached there - of Hodgkins Lymphoma, the idea grew to include other teams and the community in a celebration of the sport of lacrosse.
This year's event has already raised over $3,300.
“Going into last year’s event and looking at the Katie Samson, I thought we could bring some teams out to play because not everybody gets to go to that, and I felt we had a worthy cause as well,” Rodoff said.
Last year’s tournament featured four teams. This year, there were seven teams.
“It gives teams an opportunity to play good lacrosse and support a good fund and really help the fund grow,” Rodoff said.
The day was a mixed bag for the Spartans, who lost a heartbreaker to Central Bucks South (9-8) but bounced back to crush Penn Wood 23-1.
“It sorts of jerks you back and forth a little bit,” Olson said of playing two vastly different opponents. “Our CB South game definitely was a heartbreaker.
“It was very evenly matched, and if we played it again, I think we could come out on top, but to be able to come right back and play another game – to fix some mistakes and what we did wrong do right this time, I think that’s therapeutic in a way.
“We didn’t have to think about the loss until Monday’s practice. We could bounce back and do everything better.”
“It forces you to bounce back and have a mental check,” Smith added. “There’s a lot about being mentally prepared and mentally strong and being able to come back after a loss and play again.”
If it seems like Saturday’s non-league games wouldn’t matter all that much to the players, guess again.
“Every game counts, no matter what,” Olson said. “All these games go on our record, and even if they didn’t go on our record, I think we’d be doing a disservice to ourselves to not play up to our potential.”
In other action at the tournament, Hatboro picked up a pair of big wins, downing both Lower Merion 15-9 and Gwynedd Mercy (20-7). CB South also downed Gwynedd 22-12.
Prior to the event, the players sold tickets for the ‘Goal Prize Giveaway.’
“It’s an outreach to the community, and you know you’re benefitting the Deb MacFarland-Corrigan Memorial Fund, which is for our elementary school, and it’s nice to know we’re doing something good,” Smith said.
The day – complete with perfect weather – was an unqualified success. The Spartans not only raised money for a worthy cause but also had a chance to enjoy some team bonding and quality lacrosse.
“The best thing is walking around and seeing a number of games and seeing other teams playing real games on our field,” Rodoff said. “It’s sort of like that pick-up mentality. You can play this game anywhere, and it’s just a demonstration of a lot of love people have for this sport.”
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