• Uncategorized

By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com

All-Showcase pick Ella Pittenger said Friday’s Victory Events Philly Summer Kickoff Showcase was the perfect opportunity to begin her comeback from a season lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was extremely hard for me to accept the fact that our season was canceled after all the hours of hard work during preseason I put in for not only my school team, but for my club team as well,” said Pittenger, a 2023 midfielder from the Belles and Coatesville High. “It made it a lot easier to jump back into the swing of things with the help and support from Belles and my coaches.

“They were really active from the beginning with zoom workouts and getting us back on the field safely. It definitely makes competing this summer more fun and it feels great to be back on the field playing competitively.”

Pittenger was one of several All-Showcase selections interviewed following the event at Glen Willow Field, Avondale.

See the All-Showcase team

See the interviews below:

AnnMarie Davenport, 2023 midfield/draw, Elkton-MD, Belles PA

Q: What were your goals coming into the event and do you feel you achieved them? Davenport: “Coming into this showcase I really wasn’t sure how it was going to go it was my first showcase ever and I had a lot of fun. Overall the coaches were great and really helped me become a better player. Just the experience was great.”

Q: How tough was it to miss the entire high school season and does that make competing this summer more important and more fun? Davenport: “It was very hard for me to lose my first ever high school season. I was looking forward to playing. COVID-19 put me out of shape for a little bit – I’m not going to lie – but I knew I had to start working harder if I wanted to be my best for this summer.”

Q: What especially went well for you Friday and how did you adapt to the competition, many of whom were older than you? Davenport: “I had lots of good competition yesterday and I was a little nervous to be playing against juniors and seniors but that’s what we have to do for high school teams. Some girls could be bigger then you or have better stick skills you never know. You just have to adapt your playing level. I never really did the draw but yesterday really boosted my confidence so I think that when really well.”

Q: What are you working on most this summer and how does this event help your confidence? Davenport: “Once again I never really did the draw so this showcase definitely helped me with my confidence and I had a lot of fun. This summer I’m trying to make my left hand more powerful and work on tricks like behind the back and around the world.”

Ella Pittenger, 2023 midfielder, Coatesville-PA, Belles-PA

Q: “What were your goals coming into the event and do you feel you achieved them? Pittenger: “One of my goals was to show that I was a well rounded and coachable player with a positive attitude. I wanted to be able to showcase my skills as well as all the other players on my team and I do feel like I achieved my goal.”

Q: How tough was it to miss the entire high school season and does that make competing this summer more important and more fun? Pittenger: “It was extremely hard for me to accept the fact that our season was canceled after all the hours of hard work during preseason I put in for not only my school team, but for my club team as well. It made it a lot easier to jump back into the swing of things with the help and support from Belles and my coaches. They were really active from the beginning with zoom workouts and getting us back on the field safely. It definitely makes competing this summer more fun and it feels great to be back on the field playing competitively. Given the current situation my focus right now is just to have fun and bond with my team and play the best lacrosse I can.”

Q: What especially went well for you Friday and how did you adapt to the competition, many of whom were older than you? Pittenger: “One of the things that I think went well for me yesterday was working with my team to transition the ball down the field. I adapted to the competition by communicating with my team and just focusing on our play and looking for any open opportunities.”

Q: What are you working on most this summer and how does this event help your confidence? Pittenger: “This summer I’m mostly focusing on conditioning, agility, and stick work. This was one of my first showcases and it helped build my confidence knowing that after missing a full season, my hard work is paying off. Playing with other athletes, working with college coaches and together making a great day of competitive lacrosse was a definite confidence builder and mental boost!”

Kaitlin Price, 2022 goalie, Kingsway Regional-NJ, SJ Shamrocks

Q: What were your goals coming into the event and do you feel you achieved them? Price: “Going into the event, some goals I had were to communicate a lot with my defenders, and to be patient with my clears. I feel that I achieved them well because I felt like my defenders and I played well together for the first time in our lives, and I felt like I was very patient when I had the ball.”

Q: How tough was it to miss the entire high school season and does that make competing this summer more important and more fun? Price: “To miss my high school season was one of the biggest obstacles I have had to overcome in my life. Since nobody was allowed to play during the quarantine, not being able to play in game-like scenarios for months definitely threw me off, and it was also not good not being able to get film for my recruiting process. But I trained during this to become the best player I could be when we were finally able to play again. Missing my season definitely makes competing this summer more important to me and more fun because it is very important for my recruiting, and it also allows me to be back playing the game I love.”

Q: What especially went well for you yesterday and how did you adapt to the competition? Price: “Yesterday, I felt like my clears and high shot saves went especially well for me because I was patient and smart with my clears, and I saw the ball very well on the high shots I was faced with. I adapted to the competition to see how the offense played and where they mostly shot, to try to bait them to either shoot high on me by squatting lower, or by shading to the left to make them see more of the net stick side so they could shoot there and it would become an easy save for me.”

Q: What are you working on most this summer and how does this event help your confidence? Price: “This summer, I am working hard on shots around the crease and right in front of the net, and also my reaction time. As well as this, I am also working on long clears with my attackers, so it will be a game changer when we get that down. This event helped my confidence by allowing me to play hard against extreme competition, and to ultimately get back into the game that I love.”

Scarlett Scileppi, 2022 defender, Cornwall Central, Beast Lacrosse NY

Q: What were your goals coming into the event and do you feel you achieved them? Scileppi: “My goal for this event was to get a feel of what it’s like to play with more advanced players who I’m not familiar with, and learn from some great coaches who will critique me when I need to be.”

Question: How tough was it to miss the entire high school season and does that make competing this summer more important and more enjoyable? Scileppi: “When I found out that the school season was cancelled I was completely devastated; it’s the few months during the school year that I look forward to the most. Because this happened I was more than excited to get back on the field, and it really made me realize how hard I have to work to make up for lost time. It also makes me so much more grateful to be allowed to play this summer and enjoy the sport I love!”

Q: What especially went well for you Friday and how did you adapt to the competition? Scileppi: “During the showcase, I was really happy with the amount of connections and assists I had. On defense, when the ball is on the offense side you have time to analyze the game and watch how the midfielders play on that end. I really like to use that to my advantage so I know who I should look for the most on the field.”

Q: What are you working on most this summer and how does this event help your confidence? Scileppi: “This summer, I’m really focusing on my footwork, as I learned it is one of the most important parts when playing defense. This event has helped my confidence by bringing me outside of my comfort zone and learning that I shouldn’t doubt myself, and I should have faith in how I play.”

Breese Burlingame, 2022 goalie, Northfield Mount Hermon-MA, Ride Lacrosse-NY

Q: What were your goals coming into the event and do you feel you achieved them? Burlingame: “Coming into the showcase I set a goal to get back on the field after I hadn’t been playing for a couple months. I wanted to feel the ball and get back into my groove of making saves and getting into my game again.”

Question: How tough was it to miss the entire high school season and does that make competing this summer more important and more enjoyable? Burlingame: “I go to NMH, a boarding school where the competition is extremely high. This season was going to be one of the best my school has had and we had some amazingly skilled players so it was extremely hard to miss an entire high school season. Not having a season makes me much coming to showcases super important. It’s always nice to come back and play sports after not playing for a couple of months!”

Q: What especially went well for you Friday and how did you adapt to the competition? Burlingame: “Coming into the showcase I was nervous because I hadn’t played, but what went super well was being able to be back at it. Being able to get a feel for the ball again. The first game was a little harder since I hadn’t played, but Game 2 I felt much better and was much more consistent with saves and clearing the ball.”

Q: What are you working on most this summer and how does this event help your confidence? Burlingame: “I am working on staying patient with the ball and working on clearing to players accurately and consistently. The event helped my confidence in knowing I can compete in front of coaches and players who have skill and not lose confidence on the field.”