Q&A with GLAX Senior Maddie Ward

Maddie is the undisputed leader of this team.

Head coach Amy Short was not shy about the above statement. Senior girls lacrosse player Maddie Ward has been an integral part of the girls' successes this year. Off to a 3-3 start in the beginning weeks, the Lady Rams have been able to capture three straight victories, all in the PAC-10, to secure a 6-3 record.

Ward has scored 19 goals and made 25 assists in eight games (no statistics were sent in for the Perkiomen Valley win) this season. She will head to the University of Massachusetts next year to play lacrosse and continue her education.

LRSC Patch Editor Kevin Haslam and Ward stepped aside from practice to chat about her career, the future and this season in this week's Q&A.

LRSC Patch: You made that commitment to UMass when?

Maddie Ward: Last year at the beginning of the season.

Patch: OK. So, tell me about the college process: dealing with schools, playing in high school and trying to decide where you want to go.

Ward: Balancing everything is hard, but it's a lot of fun. Recruiting started probably my sophomore year. I was gone every weekend of my sophomore fall semester, going college to college. It started out really wide. When you're getting recruited, you have to make it seem like you're really interested in the program. They want to know you're interested. You go and have them see you and then you send out major emails. You email all of the coaches. I started with a list of 20 schools. All Division I schools and I had one DIII school. I emailed them all, did summer tournaments, all that stuff. Then, finally, we narrowed it down to UMass. It was crazy but lots of fun.

Patch: What led to that decision? What's special about this school? Are the academics something you're favoring? What kind of major are you looking at?

Ward: UMass was the last school I visited. Them and Drexel. I had taken my Drexel official [visit] and then went to UMass the next weekend. I just fell in love with the campus. There's nothing like it. Amherst is the number one college town in America. I'm going to study communication disorders and it's top 20 in the country for that major. Everything just kind of clicked. The team's great, the coaches are great, so everything is just perfect. It's a little bit far, but they play in the Atlantic 10 and play teams like Temple and Saint Joe's, so I can visit my parents a lot.

Patch: Communications Disorders... A lot of kids say business or communications or engineering. But this is a really unique major. What is it? Is it speech therapy?

Ward: It is speech therapy, yeah! I probably want to start my own practice, so I will be studying a little bit of the business side. My dad actually told me. That's the first thing. When you get recruited, they ask you what major you're trying to get in to. You need to go to a school that has your major. I was sitting there and I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was 15 or 16 years old. My dad was doing all kinds of research and said 'What about speech pathology? You could do that.'

I like helping people. I'm a people person. I don't like sitting at a computer all day. So, I got into it. I'm doing some shadowing over summer break. For right now. I can always change if it's not suitable to me, but I'm pretty sure I'm into that.

Patch: So, being a senior, being on this team, being a leader... What excites you the most about this group of girls and being on this team?

Ward: I get that question a lot. I think it's just the chemistry. We're pretty young. We have a couple of seniors, a few juniors. But, I think it's just a common goal that we all just love lacrosse and want to be playing all the time. It's exciting because I've never been on a team that's this excited about lacrosse and loves it just as much as I do. It's a lot of fun.

Patch: You guys are really on the bounce-back now. You were one game below .500 and now you're three games above .500. So, things are looking good and you've got a few tough games ahead of you, but what do you think so far about the season?

Ward: We definitely started with a competitive schedule. Our out of league schedule has always been tough. We like that competition. We like being able to go head-to-head with teams. Henderson, we lost by one goal. It's just shown how much we've grown over the four years of me being on the team. It's crazy - the amount we've put into it and our team has really gotten together. It's amazing, actually.

Patch: What would you say overall was the best game you've ever played in?

Ward: That's hard to say, oh wow. I still think about the P.V. game sophomore year. We went into double overtime with them and we scored with like 30 seconds left in the second overtime, I think. We were down by two or three goals in the last five minutes. I think it was me and , maybe? I don't know. But, that game really sticks out, because of the overtime. I really like those games that are close. It's always the close games you remember the most.

Patch: Who would you say has had the most influence on your lacrosse career?

Ward: My dad. Coming to Spring-Ford, I've had three different coaches. Freshman year was Elaine Ruppert. Sophomore year was Mrs. McDaniel. Then, the last two years I had Coach Short. It's been hard to have a major influence with my head coaches. Now me and Coach Short have a really strong relationship and it's the same with the other two coaches.

But, my dad... With the recruiting process, no one has helped me with anything more in my entire life. Hounding me. 'You've got to get emails out!' he would say. Taking film of me, driving me around... My mom was definitely there for me, but not as much as my dad - just getting in my head. It was a lot of help. I've had a lot of coaches telling me the processes, but my dad has been there the most for me. I've been playing since second grade and he's been carting me around.

Patch: So, you and your dad have been close your entire life... That's good, that's a special kind of relationship. Moving forward, wrapping up your senior year; would you identify a certain memory in the halls or on the field as a favorite at ?

Ward: I guess just Ram Time with the girls. We all do "Ram Power." You could see someone from across the hallway and all of a sudden you're just like "Ram Power!" It's just special. I love being able to be a part of a team. It doesn't matter who you're friends with outside of the team. Here, we're all best friends. It's a family bond. It doesn't matter what you're going through at home or school. We're all different but we share this common sport and it's special.

Patch: What school do you get revved up the most to play against?

Ward: Boyertown. They're a very good team. I give them so much credit. They put in the work. They've been bred since they were young. All of their feeder programs are very good. Their coaches are very good. The girls are very intense. It's just something we're looking forward to playing them again. The first game we played against them, we didn't get the showing we wanted. So, we're definitely excited for the next game and hopefully the championship.

Patch: You said this is a young team. Is there a specific girl on the team that you'd say is your little sister - someone you've taken under your wing?

Ward: We have two freshmen that came up that we kind of baby. They're not varsity material yet, but we all baby them. They're like our little sisters. We'd do anything for them. Emily Coyne and Cat Connolly.

Patch: Wrapping up - last question I ask everyone. If you could go back to your freshman year and talk to yourself and give yourself tips to become who you are today, what would you tell yourself?

Ward: Keep calm. Everything's going to be fine. That was me and my dad's biggest worries, that everything wasn't going to go as expected. Freshman and sophomore year, I was very strongheaded about going to Penn State. That was my main goal. Now, I would never want to go to Penn State. I love where I am now. Everything's worked out. I've changed club teams so many times. Me and my dad were always wondering if it was the right thing. It gets better, everything works out, don't fret - I guess.