June 3^rd, 2013

It’s a funny position having our end of the season lacrosse banquet before the end of the season but I don’t think anyone minds this year, I sure don’t. Because of our success together, we were able to win a sectional title this year and are fortunate to head to the state tournament this weekend. I think we owe a great deal of our success to Kassidy (our buddy). This year we focused a lot on our mental toughness as a team and Kassidy made that mental “push” so much easier. When I think of Kassidy being on our team this season a few instances come to mind. After our Pittsford game when we lost by 1, is when the mental aspect of our game really came into play. The team received a text from Kassidy shortly after the LONGG bus ride home and it said, “Even though we lost, you guys Rocked! Don’t let this one game bring you down! KEEP PUSHING (All Caps!) and leave the past behind.” This was not the first time Kassidy helped push our team but it surely wasn’t the last.

In the beginning of the season when Kassidy first joined our team and learned about the little treats the captains put in everybody’s bag in the locker room before every game (usually a single wrapped candy of some sort)- Kassidy decided to show us captains up and put a large pack of Starburst in everyone’s bag- So Thanks Kassidy…. I guess it’s go big or go home!!!

We have a joke on our team that Kassidy has a later bedtime than Kenzie because after we beat Canandaigua the other night, Kassidy came to Hungry’s with the team for Garbage Plates but Kenzie didn’t. (Kenzie takes my jokes about being in 8^th grade almost every day, she knows we love her). Kassidy gave the seniors a rubber duck before our sectional finals game last week with a graduation cap on its head. I was thrilled she gave me something I could continuously squeeze the life out of on our way to Eastridge, attempting to release my unbelievable amount of nerves. Luckily it’s a short drive though because that duck squeaked every time I squeezed it. .. loud. My teammates around me on the bus were definitely annoyed but I was more thankful for that thing than she thinks.

Kassidy was someone we played for, someone we wanted a sectional title for more than ourselves and I know Kassidy wanted it for us. So Thank You Kassidy, thank you for being such a joy to have around and for pushing us to be the best we could be, we hope you can skip school and come to states with us! We Love you!

Love, The Captains

Written by Carly Randall with help from Meaghan Bowen and Lauren Smolensky – Brighton Girls’ Lacrosse Captains