West Lebanon
A 6-year-old program co-founded by South Woodstock resident Reese Brown and former Dartmouth College women’s assistant coach Sarah Martin, Empower aims to provide a competitive travel-team experience without the intense commitments of tryout-based club programs. A registered nonprofit since last year, Empower holds training sessions during the summer, fall and winter while encouraging participation in other sports.
“When girls who love lacrosse start getting involved with club teams, all of the travel and expenses can be a huge burden on families,” Brown, chairman of Empower’s board, said during Tuesday’s practice at Sachem Field. “We’re a nonprofit that believes in continuing to build fundamental skills, so that the girls can continue to progress and not worry about making the team. And we know that our players have other things going on in their lives. On some teams, you have to be at every practice or you can’t play in the tournament. We don’t think that’s right.”
Comprised of 22 rising eighth-graders, freshmen and sophomores from 12 towns, Empower is preparing for this weekend’s Bitter Lacrosse Tournament in Stowe, Vt. Last month, a group of 19 players went 1-3 at the Port City Challenge in Portsmouth, N.H., two of its losses coming by one or two goals.
Led by Lebanon High girls lacrosse coach Sara Ecker — Martin, normally the squad’s head coach, is missing this week’s tournament because of a family commitment — Empower spent the start of Tuesday’s practice in a group circle getting to know one another with a name game, then sweated through some creative agility drills utilizing hula hoops. Soon players were greeted by Brooklyn Raney, a motivational speaker who doubles as Kimball Union Academy’s dean of students and leadership coordinator.
Raney began by prompting the girls to greet their teammates with “happy salmon” handshakes, slapping one another’s forearms while many giggled.
“We only have three practices to get ready for the tournament, so the bonding has to come kind of quick,” said Ecker, who first coached Empower during its indoor sessions at KUA last winter. “That’s kind of outside the box for me, and I don’t really know any of these girls, so (the bonding exercises) are just as important for me.”
This week’s group includes two girls each from Hanover and Norwich, one from Vershire and one, Brown’s daughter, Anda, from South Woodstock. Many of the rest are Northeast Kingdom residents, mostly St. Johnsbury Academy students whose next-closest club team options are in the Burlington area.
Empower’s participants and their families enjoy not only the club’s proximity but its holistic approach. For some players, the format may even help them stay interested.
“We’re all about keeping girls in sports,” Brown said. “Up to 60 percent of girls (who play youth sports) drop sports altogether between the ages of 12-14. That’s for a lot of reasons, but some of it may have to do with feeling like they’re not making progress. For example, if they try out for one of the travel programs south of here and don’t make it.
“The idea is not to be a second-rate team; we certainly want to be as competitive as possible. But the main idea is to make sure girls have an outlet to build on fundamental skills and have fun playing the game.”
The first line in Empower’s mission statement boasts the virtues of supporting multi-sport athletes, and its schedule aims to prevent interfering with other popular games.
Empower in the fall holds all of its practices on Sundays, so it doesn’t typically interfere with high school or Lightning soccer, for example.
“Kids are starting to specialize in one sport at age 10, 11 or 12, and research is showing us that it’s not good for their bodies, to keep doing the same motions when their muscles and joints are still growing,” Brown said. “We definitely encourage our girls to play other sports because we’re interested in developing the whole athlete.”
That’s a welcome notion for Empower assistant coach Kelsey Redpath, a former three-sport athlete at Hanover High who went on to play lacrosse at St. Lawrence University, captaining the Saints as a junior and senior.
“I think I’m a good example of how you really don’t have to play one sport to be able to play a sport in college,” said Redpath, a 2007 Hanover High graduate who also played soccer and basketball for the Marauders. “It’s great that this program fosters that. To me the name says it all; Empower is all about empowering the girls to be the most complete athletes they can.”
Players are particularly looking forward to this weekend’s Bitter tournament, during which they’ll stay in a Mount Mansfield Ski Academy dormitory and be treated to Brown’s famous pasta dinner.
“It’s a family recipe and seems to be pretty popular,” Brown said with a grin.
Raney was only the latest to interact with the girls about leadership and character building. Previous Empower speakers have included comedian/educator Cindy Pierce, pediatrician and nutritionist Nancy Turkington, Hilary Hubbard from Hanover-based youth empowerment organization Positive Tracks and Dr. Rebecca Nash, who discussed practical methods to help avoid sport-specific injuries common to girls.
The seminars have been nearly as popular as the tournaments among Empower’s players.
Rising Hanover High sophomore Isabel Brennan, of Norwich, is in her third year on the team. “I definitely like this group because it’s a safe space, and it’s a lot more than just lacrosse,” Brennan said. “We spend a lot of time bonding and doing other things.”
For more information, visit empowerlacrosseclub.com.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.