‘Just grateful for this opportunity’
Former Darien goalie, Caylee Waters, excels in Athletes Unlimited’s unique debut lacrosse season
For the first time since competing in college, Darien native and standout goalie Caylee Waters is back playing lacrosse every day. And she’s loving it.
For the past four weeks, she’s been practicing with different teams, meeting new players and making clutch saves more than she’s had in years thanks to Athletes Unlimited.
Athletes Unlimited is a newly-formed sports network focused on creating professional sports opportunities for women centered around the individual player’s experiences. The network debuted last summer with its first softball season before debuting a volleyball league this past spring.
Waters is one of nearly 60 athletes participating in Athletes Unlimited’s debut lacrosse season this summer and is within reach of becoming the league’s inaugural season champion as it wraps up play this weekend.
“This is a unique opportunity to have lacrosse every day,” Waters said. “It’s something that I very much always dreamed of, being able to wake up and you’re with some of the best players in the world and you go out and practice and train. … I’m really just grateful for this opportunity here. I didn’t know what to expect and it’s really blown me away.”
Unlike other professional sports leagues, individual players are awarded points and cash bonuses during games for successful performances, team wins and MVP honors. If a player performs poorly, say causing
a turnover, they lose points from their season total. Over the course of the five-week season, the top four players with the most points each week become team captains and get to draft a new team roster at the start of the following week. While some players may be chosen to stay on a specific captain’s roster multiple weeks in a row, others could easily play for all four teams throughout the season.
At the end of the season, the player with the most total points is named champion and the best defensive player is awarded as the GEICO Defensive Player of the Year.
This summer, 58 lacrosse players from the across the country took part in the debut season. The players lived in the Metro DC Area and practiced and played games at Maureen Hendricks Field. Unlike NCAA women’s lacrosse games, Athletes Unlimited lacrosse games consist of four eightminute quarters, 10-vs-10 rosters along with a 60second shot clocks.
“(I) wasn’t sure what to expect from it because it’s kinda a new situation, we’re all used to being on a team and building on that, but I think it’s actually been a really big benefit for the league,” Waters said. “It’s a fun way to get to know other people and we’re all here for the same reason. We all love lacrosse and want to be part of pushing the sport and being able to play at a high level.”
Waters has been playing lacrosse since she was in sixth grade. At Darien High School she was named the Nike U.S. Lacrosse New England Region Player of the Year and the Connecticut Player of the Year with 289 saves her senior season.
“I owe a lot to my town, Darien, where I grew up,” Waters said. “There really wasn’t any pressure and it was a lot of fun being out there and then getting to high school and having that opportunity at a young age to play with juniors and seniors and play out of state teams. I was pretty hungry to just prove myself and see where I lined up and also just representing the town that I grew up in and high school, that was an incredible experience, too.”
After playing for the University of North Carolina, where she was twice named the National Goalie of the Year and a member of the 2016 NCAA national championship, Waters spent a season as an assistant coach with Stanford before returning to the East Coast. Between her time playing and training with the U.S. National team, Waters spent two seasons playing for the Women’s Professional Lacrosse
League before it folded in 2020.
It was when the WPLL folded during the summer of 2020 that Waters first learned about Athletes Unlimited. The idea of playing with and meeting new players from across the country while continuing her lacrosse career excited her.
“A lot of people who I play with (here) I may have played against in college, but now I’m getting to know them,” she said. “All the other players, they’re inspiring.”
Waters opened the season on the Purple team (led by her National Team teammate Katie O’Donnell) and finished second on the team with 331 points thanks to 12 saves after the opening three games.
In Weeks 2 and 3, Waters played for the Blue and Orange teams (both led by former Boston College midfielder Dempsey Arsenault). In six games, she recorded 34 saves and 679 points.
Waters played on the Blue team, captained by fellow Team USA teammate, Taylor Cummings, for Week 4. Since Waters finished the week second in the league with 412 points, she became captain for the Orange team for the season’s final week.
Waters is currently second in the running for league Champion with 1,422 points, behind only Cummings with 1,507. Waters will lead her team through its final three games (Friday at 8 p.m. broadcast on FS2, Saturday at 3 p.m. on YouTube, and Sunday at 6 p.m. on CBS Sports) this weekend.
“We all love the sport here and you can tell that whenever we’re up on the field, people are appreciative, and they bring such high energy because we know what we used to have was nothing like this,” Waters said. “This is a whole new level of professional lacrosse and we’re really embracing it. It’s just been a blast to be around that.
The official confirmation on if Athletes Unlimited will renew lacrosse for a second season will be made next week. While she waits for a possible second season next summer, Waters will continue balancing her full-time job as a product manager at Teamworks with training for the National Team in hopes of making its roster for the 2022 World Championship.
“I can’t imagine my life without lacrosse. It brings out so much energy and joy in myself that I can’t compare. I love to compete, and I love to compete with other people, and I think it’s a really great sport and I found that it’s inspiring to other people,” Waters said. “I definitely want to stick with it as long as I can.”