Change in coaching staff brings new attitude to girls’ lacrosse team
Just re-lax: After four years on the team and two years on varsity, senior Rikki Glazer looks forward to another season with Coach Mitran, this year as head varsity coach. In addition to her career at DHS, Glazer has worked during the offseason with Lakeshore Lacrosse, a competitive travel team in the Northshore that has games and practices throughout the year for junior high, high school and adult levels.
As the spring sports season gets underway and athletes look forward to another season, the girls Lacrosse program is experiencing major changes. This year, all three levels of the program will be seeing a change in coaching staff which will be led by Flo Mitran, a P.E teacher at DHS.
Currently, Mitran coaches football and wrestling at DHS and has previously been assistant varsity coach for the girls lacrosse program. Beginning his career at DHS as an athletic trainer, Mitran has quickly became an important figure as both a teacher and coach. Now, claiming his role as the head of the varsity program, the girls team exhibited nothing but enthusiasm. Specifically, for senior Rikki Glazer, two time varsity athlete, she is extremely excited to see Mitran lead the program.
“Mitran offers the girls lacrosse programs the stability it needs. His dedication will allow the program as a whole to grow,” said Glazer.
Last season, the girls Varsity record was below .500, meaning that the team lost more than half of their games. Although winning may not mean everything, this number has been a huge motivating factor in this upcoming season and Coach Mitran plans to improve this in his new position through better training and more weight conditioning. Since the time after Thanksgiving break, Coach Mitran has been running open gyms before the season so the players can get in shape and be ready to play.
“I’m excited for the opportunity to help the girls improve. I think we are capable of having a good year,” said Mitran.
Assisting Mitran this year will be Kyle Nagle who previously led the freshman girl’s lacrosse program. Working as both a cheerleading coach and librarian at DHS, Nagle is excited for her new coaching role.
Although she is changing positions within the program, Nagle has been working with freshman for the past two years developing the fundamental skills of lacrosse. She expressed that she has loved watching her freshman teams grow up and improve, but is excited to work with the varsity players.
“I think we are going to have a really good team this year. We have a lot of new talent coming in, and the girls from last year worked really hard in the offseason. I think it will be really good,” Nagle said.
Starting off the season, both coaches and athletes seem hopeful and excited about the changes. Now that the program has been reorganized, winning has become a potential reality. With many seniors on the team, it is sure to become a memorable season.
