Celebrating A Historical Journey

After months of planning, the team celebrated their historic season with their very own "Lacrosse Athletic Banquet" to honor the end of our inaugural season. It was at this banquet where our program celebrated our community; a community that encompassed not only our players but the unsung heroes—the parents and our administration. This program is more than a team, we are a community built upon the sacrifices that every single one of our players, parents, and administrators have made. The sacrifices made may have seemed natural to them, but to our program, those efforts surely did not go unnoticed. It was because of those sacrifices that this program will forever be etched in the history of Maryland athletics as the first charter school to field a varsity lacrosse team.

Although it was a season filled with adversity, from many losses to the tiniest of victories we all made it to the end together (with a few more bruises and emptier wallets than how we started this season). Together, after the blood, sweat, and tears (literally and metaphorically) the girls in our program forged a path that was nonexistent before them. When giving up seemed so easy they decided to take that leap of faith going from a club to a varsity team, to pick up their sticks, to make those runs, to make those passes, to make those shots, and ultimately lift each other up to keep fighting when they had their backs against the walls. Together, they set the precedent of what a "CMIT Lacrosse Player" should be while breaking down barriers for future generations.

Kaitlin Quarshie '21 encapsulated the season best during the team captain's address when she said, "...this season was full of hardships. For a majority of the team, this was our first team sport, and for everyone, our first time playing lacrosse. As a whole, we faced many losses and challenges — some of which are injuries, arguments, and mental challenges. However, every obstacle we faced, we overcame it as a team. Every loss was a team loss, and every victory was a team win. Through it all, we learned to overcome our differences and have a deeper connection with each other — a sisterhood. And although this season was bittersweet, we learned things that I don’t think we’d learn anywhere else."

It was truly a fitting celebration of what the program had accomplished, and an ushering of a new era of women's lacrosse in the CMIT athletic community. As the night progressed the players were able to receive their varsity letters and lacrosse pins. Individual awards were announced with Becky Takang '21 being awarded the "Most Improved Player", Anjali Clark '22 being awarded the "Hard Hat Warrior", and Kavya Gouda '21 being recognized as this year's "Tewaaraton" winner.

Unfortunately, it was a bittersweet evening when it was officially announced that one of the most integral pieces to the team, Maha Idsassi '22, our goalie, was leaving to go to Eleanor Roosevelt for the remainder of her high school career.

So unbeknownst to her, the team coordinated a special night for her after she received the honor of “Most Valuable Player” this season. The program gave this freshmen the CMIT senior night she deserved, just three years early. After her recognition, she delivered an impromptu speech from the bottom of her heart, and it was this line that truly spoke to the program's dream:

“…When I first came to the first practice, I [didn't] know who to hang out with…at the end of the season...I really felt like I belonged somewhere…”

Her simple words of having the feeling of “belonging” was surreal. Our program has only ever wanted to share the game we love with the people we love — and ultimately create a space built upon opportunity and inclusion for women in sports, a place of “belonging”. Knowing we’ve done that as a team has been our greatest victory this year.