The MFS girls lacrosse team has a junior varsity (JV) team for the first time in over three years, giving girls interested in lacrosse an opportunity to play and showing increased participation in the sport.
Last year, the team had 16 players, according to Addison Levens ’28. As of the 2025-26 spring sports season, about 30 girls initially signed up for lacrosse, with 26 girls actually participating, according to Isaiah Coleman, Director of Athletics. These numbers were enough to be able to form two full teams.
“It’s a good thing for the program to have a JV team because it shows that the participation is up,” said Coleman.
JV player Maya Trivedi ’28 said, “I think it’s a very, very positive development where they are getting a lot more participation, which is a good sign for the team moving forward.”
Natalie Choi ’27, a second-year varsity lacrosse player, explained how the team has changed over the years.
“Compared to last year, the dynamics definitely changed,” Choi said.
She noted that having a JV team “makes the stakes feel higher” and has made the varsity team feel more serious, and a spot on the team feels more earned.
According to Coleman and some players, there is a decent amount of girls who have never played before or played very little, so having two teams seems beneficial regarding the amount of practice and playing time the players get.
Lacrosse newcomer and JV player Zoe Dasgupta ’28 stated, “I think [JV] is good because you’re actually getting to try out your skills and improve your skills, which you couldn’t otherwise do in a varsity game because everyone would be [at] a different level than you.”
Trivedi said the JV games are low-pressure and less stressful, allowing her to develop her skills. She also talked about how the reps benefit her as a newcomer to the sport.
She stated, “I never picked up a stick until the beginning of the season, so I think it gives me a lot more opportunity, whereas I wouldn’t get off the bench if I [were] on varsity.”
Coleman shared the importance of the JV team getting the girls ready to face varsity-level competition.
“When you have young ladies who are brand new to a sport, and they are being immediately thrown onto the varsity program and … competing against other varsity programs, sometimes they are not ready. Sometimes they don’t know the sport well enough,” said Coleman.
He continued, “[Having] a JV program that acts like an introductory program for a lot of young ladies … allows them to get up to speed.”
Both the JV and varsity teams practice together. According to Choi, having the teams practice together is beneficial for everyone as it helps slow the game down for the more experienced players and it challenges the JV players to learn and understand the game while also developing their skills.
Coleman plans to continue increasing participation in girls’ lacrosse, seeking more members for the team.
“[The Athletic Department] has got to keep working at it,” Coleman said. “I don’t think we’re done. I don’t think it’s complete when talking about the participation numbers in girls’ lacrosse.”
