PRO FORM
In a sport devoid of opportunities for elite players after college, is Team STX the precursor to professional women’s lax?
By Megan Schneider M
More than 10 years ago at camps nationwide, you’d see young girls sporting two buns in their hair, one planked on each side of their heads. They wanted to look like Jen Adams. Adams, the most celebrated player
in the history of women’s lacrosse, led the Terps to their seventh consecutive NCAA title in 2001. After graduating, she signed an endorsement deal with STX and became the face of the Seven Series product seven years later. Adams, now the coach at Loyola, became an icon whose popularity remains unmatched in women’s lacrosse. STX, the Baltimore-based equipment manufacturer, became the forerunner for the women’s game. But the sport’s growth has yet to yield consistent playing opportunities for elite players after college. Unless they’re able to crack Team USA
(or Canada or Australia), their careers mostly end at graduation. They’ll pop up occasionally at Vail and Lake Placid, maybe land on a local club roster for a few summers. And then they’re done.
46 LACROSSE MAGAZINE September 2014>>
Whatever happened to Taylor Thornton? Where have you gone, Ali DeLuca? How about Emma Hamm or Brittany Kalkstein? All of these players were Tewaaraton
Award finalists at some time in the last five years, but you would be hard pressed to see them play today. Even Team USA, which announced its 2014- 15 training squad in June and competes annually against top college teams to fill the four-year gap between World Cups, has trended toward current collegians. Seventeen of the 38 players will play for NCAA teams in 2015. STX sensed this void and, in 2012, established Team STX. Last year, the Heather Leigh Albert Foundation started Team HLA Elite in addition to its U19 traveling all-star squads. Could these teams be precursors to professional women’s lacrosse? “If someone came to me tomorrow
and said we’re putting together a pro league, I would be all for it,” said DeLuca. “I would definitely put my name in the pool and start training again.”
A Semi-Pro Kind of Life The Lake Placid Summit Classic,
which celebrated its 25th anniversary and featured nearly 240 teams in August, provided a glimpse at what that would look like in 2013. Team HLA Elite, comprised of top collegians, upset Team STX, then the reigning champion from the Vail Lacrosse Shootout, en route to the women’s division championship. “We went into that tournament not knowing what to expect and knew Team STX would be really strong. But it turned out we were even stronger, which was great especially going up against a factory team with a large budget while we’re operating on a shoestring budget through a family foundation,” said Sean Albert, whose family runs the non-profit organization. Team HLA recently added Tewaaraton
Award winner Taylor Cummings to its lineup and brought back Amy Cross and Alyssa Costantino, who both just graduated from NCAA Division I runner- up Syracuse.
A Publication of US Lacrosse
Lauren Schmidt, a two-time All-American and MPSF Player of the Year at Stanford, plays for Team STX.
©STX
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