Griffins fielding two teams
Newcomers to girls field lacrosse getting their chance with new junior varsity team at TASSS
Not every high school lacrosse team can boast two Hall of Fame lacrosse players as coaches.
The Thomas A. Stewart Griffins girls junior varsity and varsity teams are coached by Kerri Hardill and Jim Wasson. Hardill played in the women’s world field lacrosse championships in 1982, winning a bronze medal, and 1993 and Wasson at the men’s worlds in 1978, when Canada won its first gold medal, and 1982. Both are members of the Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame.
For decades they were on opposing benches as Hardill guided TASSS and Wasson coached Lakefield District. With LDSS amalgamating with TASSS they get to coach together for one year as Wasson is retiring in June.
“I grew up hearing about Jim Wasson and watching Jim Wasson,” Hardill said. “To be able to coach with him is amazing.”
“Kerri had a program that was so strong and we were arch-rivals for so long,” Wasson said. “Then you join together and it’s like we’re long lost friends. She has all the stuff she’s done in her career which has worked and we have our philosophy from Lakefield that worked for our group. The girls are figuring it all out.”
The Griffins have 43 girls and are fielding two teams for the first time in four years.
While they accomplished a lot as players there are no egos with this pair.
“We try to keep it all in perspective,” Wasson said. “You’re just so happy to see their skills improve and how excited they get. We’ve seen some who have gone on to the Kawartha club in the summer and onto the NCAA. To see an Erica Evans at Canisius or Jake Withers at Ohio State and to see what we produce out of the area is the accomplishment of it all. It’s not us as coaches, it’s the league’s coaches and the kids who embrace the league. It all starts here.”
“It’s all about the kids,” Hardill said. “We show up and bring the balls out. Guys like Kelly Roberts at Adam Scott and Andrew Ross at Crestwood have been doing it for a long time.”
The girls’ league is focused mostly on development. No scores are kept during regular season games. All teams gather once a week in one location to play a series of 30 minute games. Teams are asked to roll lines to get everyone into games. It discourages blowouts and keeps everyone engaged.
“The whole premise is so we can get more girls playing the game,” Hardill said. “(Adam Scott coach) Kelly Roberts came up with this philosophy.”
Facing the Griffins on Thursday at Trent University was the Adam Scott Lions. Jasmine Loftin moved to Peterborough from North Carolina this year as her mother is doing a masters in psychology at Trent. Loftin’s sport is figure skating and while field lacrosse is popular in the U.S. south, she had never tried it.
“It’s something I never thought I would play but now that I am I really enjoy it,” Loftin said. “I didn’t really know much about it before I moved here. Coach Roberts said you should come and try lacrosse and I thought I’d try it. It’s competitive but at the JV level it’s not overbearingly competitive. It’s fun.”
Lions coach Sara Gardner said JV is designed for newcomers
“It’s a sport in high school that not a lot of girls have been exposed to. Everyone is on a level playing field,” Gardner said. “It’s more about learning to play the game. Everyone gets to get on the field and have equal playing time.”