UConn’s Watson a scorer with high personal, societal goals
She is a mind hunter. She is a goal hunter. And in a time when we most need it, Sydney Watson is a conversation starter.
“Syd is a complete athlete,” UConn lacrosse coach Katie Woods said. “She has agility. She has power. She has explosiveness. You look at her numbers in the weight room, she can move a lot of weight.
“But the special piece about Syd is that she is so competitive at the core.”
There are numbers to document that competitiveness. Watson leads the Huskies, making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013, with 53 goals and 113 draw controls. There are accolades. Hunter not only was selected Big East Midfielder of the Year, she was named one of the 25 nominees for the 2021 Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s outstanding player.
There is anecdotal evidence, too. Sydney and her younger brother Corey were so competitive they used to race to see who could eat the fastest.
In the midst of 160 words explaining everything Watson can do on the lacrosse field, her teammate Lia LaPrise settled on five: “She is an overall beast.”
Maryland is a huge lacrosse state and Watson said it has gotten more popular the southern part of the state. Yet growing up, lacrosse wasn’t as big in Calvert County. Sydney had one advantage. She started playing at age 6. She learned from a friend’s mom who was a coach.
“I like running,” Waton said, “so when I was introduced to the sport, catching the ball and running with it was fun for me. I ended up loving it. We were one of those (public high) schools where we had to go through the hallways to get girls to try out for the team — even if they’d never played before.
“It was tough. Teams we played against knew I had some experience. Some teams that weren’t used to it would go for illegal checks, get my fingers and stuff.”
Watson started wearing gloves her junior year at Calvert High. She still wears them.
Woods spotted Watson at a camp in Maryland. She was on a club team that didn’t play in a ton of national tournaments. After seeing her play, Woods said
she knew one thing.
“Syd was a next-level player, somebody who could help the program to a new place,” Woods said. “We felt really strongly about it. She is that person that finds a way for team to win. Whatever she needs to do in that moment.”
Connecticut had an unexpected selling point.
“She doesn’t like the heat,” Woods said.
Watson has greatly matured each season, but this year she blossomed into what Woods called a true two-way power middie. Making an impact in all aspects.
“She has taken her gameskill and technique to another level,” Woods said. “She constantly is watching film, doing indivduals outside of practice.”
Draws, defensive positioning, dodging, shooting.
“I’m grateful that I don’t have to be on the other side of her,” said LaPrise, the Big East’s leading scorer from Windsor. “I try to avoid her sometimes during practice just because she’s such a force. She’s literally everywhere on the field.”
LaPrise checks off the overall beast list: Amazing defensively. So strong and hard to beat. Vital on draws. You don’t win games without winning draws, right? On offense, her driving abilities are insane. So hard to stop. Great hands. Great vision. Accurate shooter.
Watson’s dad, Kerry, is Black. Her mom, Teresa, is white. Both retired after long careers as police officers. In a sport that is overwhelmingly white, when she sometimes was the only person of color on the field, Sydney heard how good she was — and why. Vicious? Or snide?
“A little bit of both,” Watson said. “I’ve had the Nword thrown at me before. This is mostly in high school. I really haven’t had as many of these scenarios in college. In high school, other coaches and other people would go, ‘She’s only good, because she’s Black. She’s only fast, because she’s Black. Watch out for the Black girl, she’s overly aggressive.’
“I never personally let those comments get to me. I used them to fuel me. My parents would get more angry and disappointed than I would. It’s something
unfortunately I had to get used to being a Black athlete playing in a predominantly white sport. It’s something that’s bound to happen in the world we live in now.”
That’s why it’s so important to Watson to talk about it. The bond she formed with her teammates.
“When all these negative situations were happening outside of lacrosse, me and Rae (Neil) are the only Black athletes on the team,” Watson said. “We want to feel supported at all time and we’re thankful this team is one of the most supportive I’ve ever been on. They’ve been great.
“It’s absolutely important to have the conversations — even if there isn’t a Black athlete on the team. Most everyone knows someone who is Black. It’s important for people to know there are experiences different from theirs, both positive and negative, and that people feel differently because of their perspective. It’s something that affects everyone at different parts of their life.”
George Floyd, Breonna Taylor … the grim list of Blacks killed at the hands of police rocked our nation. And with many of us at home during the pandemic, divided socially, there was time to reflect. Woods said Watson was a stalwart during the pandemic, helping the staff handle conversations with the team.
“A lot of her teammates had had questions and have reached out,” Woods said. “Syd has been great. She is so open about conversation. And we want to try to understand what (Watson and Neil) may be going through and try to help as much we can.
“We want a welcoming environment for all. I don’t want to be a cookie-cutter program. They’re coming here to play lacrosse, but also growing and maturing and preparing them for life. Having diversity is so important.”
Watson said both her father and mother have been open with her and her younger brother, now a 6-2, 225-pound lacrosse player at Stevenson University in matters of police and race. She knows better than anyone that all police aren’t bad, but there are also men and women who should never wear the uniform of law enforcement.
She talked to Woods about Kerry, who now
works in government affairs, speaking to the team. So he did.
“When he was a younger Black man, he did not have good interactions with the police,” she said. “He explained to the team there was one interaction with a police officer that made him think, ‘OK, I can help change what’s going on in this world. I can be a positive impact for other people.’
“Some of the stories he told the team I wasn’t even aware of. It was a learning experience for me as well. I’m so proud of my mom and dad. There are big shoes to fill.”
She is going to try. Since the time she was 12 and saw her mom, an accident reconstructionist come home and use toy cars to recreate the scene, Sydney was intrigued.
She would create her own crime and justice major at UConn.
“Growing up, I was surrounded by it,” she said. “Forensics really sparked an interest for me. I want to be a profiler in the FBI. I want to understand the criminal. Why they decide to go that route.”
“I have a second interest in dysfunctional families, so I’m looking at the more juvenile side of crime, too.”
Although she finished her crime and justice degree, Watson technically didn’t graduate and will be a fifth-year senior adding another degree in human development and family sciences with a minor in psychology.
She loved the Netflix series “Mindhunter” a psychological thriller about the FBI in the 1970s. Great show.
“I really like the podcast ‘Up and Vanished,’” Watson said. “First season really pulled me in.”
Wherever the NCAAs take the Huskies, Watson will not up and vanish from Storrs. The joy of return after a season lost to COVID. Winning 12 of 18 games and the excitement to prove they deserve their at-large bid against Virginia Friday at South Bend, Ind., Watson is eager to use the extra year afforded her by the NCAA because of the pandemic. She is one of the nation’s best.
And there is much conversation to be had.