New Coach, New Beginning for Girls' Lacrosse Team

After a rocky 2010 season, the New Providence girls' varsity lacrosse team is getting a fresh start this season, with a new coach at the reins.

Jennifer Henry comes to New Providence after a stint as the assistant coach of the Summit girls' lacrosse team. While becoming accustomed with the Pioneer way has not been easy, Henry feels her team is ready to come out and play hard.

“I’m just getting everyone on board with how things are done,” Henry said. “And we just want to play strong and improve as the season goes on.”

Improvement will depend on two things: knowing how to match up against every competitor, and remaining a cohesive, communicative unit. Henry says her girls have faired well with both thus far.

“Getting to know our opponents and how to adjust for each game has been a challenge,” she said. "I think the big thing is coming in new and getting to know every competitor. The girls work hard. As we focus and have gotten closer to the beginning of the season, we’ve gotten that common goal that everyone wants — to improve and to have some success. They really pull together, and you don’t see as much the difference in grades or how long they’ve been playing.”

Senior Ashley Bezik says she expects greatness from her fellow players, and Henry’s coaching style has renewed the team’s passion for the game.

“We want it to be a lot better than last year and stay somewhat consistent against teams that we know we can beat,” Bezik said. “We have a new coach and she’s been such a great help. We’ve developed more this season than we have in the past three years.”

“Especially from last year,” added senior Kristen Darling. “It’s so great to have a new start to a new team.”

Last season, both the players and coach had difficulty communicating, leading to frustrations and misunderstandings. The Lady Pioneers have learned from their mistakes and are working just as hard off the field to maintain their team spirit.

“We’re all more into it this year,” Darling said. “We’re a lot closer; we’re better together and we’re all friends.”

But Bezik believes there is still plenty of room for growth.

“We’ve got to work on our game in general,” she said. “We’re not terrible, but we’re still learning how to play together again.”

Bezik said the team has a renewed energy thanks to Coach Henry’s leadership.

“Even though our coach is tough—which is good—we have a lot of respect for her, and she has a lot of respect for us, so it’s a good match,” she said.

Currently, the girls stand at 2-0 after handily defeating Union Catholic 21-9 Tuesday afternoon. The team hopes to keep that momentum running for the remainder of the season, especially for big-ticket match ups against Cranford and rival Governor Livingston. For now, Henry wants to keep the ladies on track.

“We have a really young team and a lot of the girls are new,” Henry said. “We want to get everyone on the same page and work towards the common goal: a successful season."