Revere girls’ lacrosse: new faces, steep learning curve and community goals

By Dom Nicastro

In a recent catch-up with Amy Rotger, third-year head coach of the Revere High School girls’ lacrosse team, the coach discussed current challenges the team faces due to inexperience and recruitment difficulties and the strategies being implemented to enhance team performance and grow the sport’s presence in the community. Revere is looking for constant improvement game to game. It began the season 0-5 but has seen some small team wins within those losses.

This season, the Patriots are grappling with a significant challenge: a mostly novice team, with only one player having prior lacrosse experience: Jayla Foster, a junior captain midfielder who has scored six of the team’s 10 goals. She is part of a 15-girl roster, a 50% departure from Rotger’s first season in which the program had a little more than 30 girls try out.

“We definitely have a very new team this year,” said Rotger, whose program only has enough for a varsity team and no junior varsity. “We only have one girl who actually has lacrosse experience, so for a lot of the girls, this is their first time learning and playing the sport.”

This scenario underscores the steep learning curve the team faces. The decline is partially attributed to lacrosse’s low exposure before high school, compelling many students to opt for more familiar sports, Rotger said. “A lot of them don’t really know about it,” Rotger said on the sport’s visibility among younger students.

Addressing the low engagement in lacrosse, Coach Rotger has initiated efforts like setting up camps to educate young people about the sport. Despite these efforts, interest remains tepid, a hurdle she continues to tackle.

“I’ve tried to start at least, like, a camp to get kids knowledgeable about the sport, but it’s just very low interest,” said Rotger, who was on Revere’s first girls’ varsity lacrosse team in 2013 and now teaches in the elementary school system in the city. “So we’re trying to figure out some different ways to get the city more involved in lacrosse; that’s something that we’ve been working on.”

Foster is one of the stronger girls on the team with her experience and knack for scoring, Rotger said. “She’s been playing since middle school. So she’s really the one that’s knowledgeable about the sport,” Rotger said.

Other noteworthy players include sophomore captain goalie Naomi Tadele, who has impressively taken up the goalie position; Hilda Sarmiento, a sophomore attack player; eighth-grader Gianna Guzman, an attack player; and sophomore midfielder Bianca Rincon. The latter two have goals. Sarmiento has adapted from attack to defense to help the team where needed. Their growth and adaptability highlight the evolving skills within the team, which, despite initial inexperience, shows promise under Rotger’s coaching.

Despite the team’s winless record so far this season, they are making strides in team communication and chemistry. Coach Rotger observed, “I think they’re getting better with communicating to one another…even when we are losing, they’re still able to have fun. And that’s the most important part.”