Shut the door!

By Jason Brennan 

Local minor lacrosse goalie, Emma Mighton, has been named to this year’s Team Ontario U15 Girls’ Box Lacrosse team.  

Pat Jones is heading-up the coaching staff for this year’s version of Team-O.  

Pat played nine seasons in the National Lacrosse League and serves as defensive co-ordinator for the New York Riptide.  

In his limited time with Emma, he indicated that she “looks athletic in the net and was very fundamentally sound with playing her angles and depth in the goal crease.  

Jones also felt that as a first year U15, Emma has a bright future with Ontario Lacrosse in addition to the Windsor Warlocks.  

Lacrosse Canada will present the Girls’ U15 Box National Championships from August 14-20 in Regina, Saskatchewan. 

For those familiar with the Windsor Warlocks Minor Lacrosse Association this achievement comes as no surprise. Every spring and summer, Emma is seen and respected as one of the hardest working players on the floor. Emma’s dad, Devan, always knew she had the right attitude to take her place between the posts, but even after years of play he’s still taken-aback by the extra work Emma does on her own to try to be better,  

“Being a goalie myself, I actually encouraged her not to play net, but I knew she was hooked after her first full season in Tyke.”  

Devan suggests that meeting and speaking with Emily VanDamme, an Assistant Coach with this year’s U15 Girls’ Team Ontario, during that Tyke/U9 season might have planted some motivation to establish herself as a mainstay in the crease.  

Emily spoke with Emma during an intermission of a Junior B men’s game between the Windsor Clippers and the Wallaceburg Red Devils. Emily was the first girl to play Junior B lacrosse, suiting up for the Red Devils, and – like Emma – starred in net. Emma tried net in Paperweight/U7 but didn’t like the idea of getting hit by shots.  

But now, with a few years of experience, knowledge of equipment, and solid coaching advice, shots to the body or helmet rarely break her focus. 

So far, Emma has spent her playing career alongside ‘the boys.’  

One of Emma’s current coaches, Chad Marentette, summed up the news of Emma’s accomplishment, “Seems about right. She’s enthusiastic and always willing to learn – she’s very coachable. I’ve seen her take shots at practice with older teams after her own practice. She seems to have a tireless appreciation for the game.”  

Marentette looks forward to Emma representing Windsor Lacrosse and he hopes the attention she gets encourages other girls to get involved in the game whether following Emma and playing with the boys or with what he describes as an historically strong Girls’ program.  

Emma takes pride in playing with boys at a high level of competition. She knows she has the support of her team-mates, coaches, and the Windsor lacrosse family at-large.  

Even when competitors are trying to get under-her-skin she’s able to rely on this support and remain calm, “It’s a bit of a balancing act, the more other teams talk – and even at my age I don’t think there’s much left I haven’t already heard – the more I’m motivated to shut the door.”  

One of the moments Emma has come to enjoy is the handshake at the end of a game. Especially the games she’s back-stopped the team to a win when competitors have been rude and distasteful. But, what Emma enjoys even more is – after a win – seeing her teammates’ “happy expressions. For me it is probably one of the best parts of the game.”  

Emma also considers herself fortunate to have a friend and mentor within the Windsor Minor Lacrosse Association. Faye Hoster, a goalie with the Windsor Warlocks U22 Girls’ team, is someone Emma can turn to when situations arise in which she feels only another female goalie might be able to empathize. 

Being the only girl her age, Emma’s mom, Adele, considers lacrosse a good fit for Emma’s positive nature and has seen Emma’s sense of confidence grow stronger, both, on and off the floor.  

She also recognizes the life-skills that Emma has developed outside of lacrosse because of her experiences, “She’s learned to adapt and handle change. Often at tournaments changerooms are collective for the few girls competing with the boys’ teams or she’s alone. She’s made friends out of rivals and shared challenges have led to a sense of shared camaraderie. It’s also allowed her some independence.” A couple of those shared challenges include changerooms that are normally used as referee rooms or even closets and then there’s the not-so-welcoming gamesmanship from competitors. Adele is proud of Emma for setting a goal for herself and accomplishing that goal through hard work. She is also excited for Emma, “The Team Ontario experience will allow her to build a new culture of friends and lacrosse experiences playing with and against all-girl teams.” Emma, to ease some of the stress of tryouts, tried to approach Team Ontario like it was just another practice with her teammates. Something she quickly realized was not going to be easy, “It was weird being in a regular changeroom full of girls because I had to stop myself from spreading my equipment everywhere.” 

Away from the arena, Emma has always liked spending time with her two younger brothers, Patrick and Robbie, who also share her fondness toward lacrosse, “We’ve always made-up fun games and drills together in the basement where we shoot or throw practice balls at each other.” 

When asked about future aspirations concerning lacrosse, Emma says she just knows she wants to keep playing at as high a level of competition as she can, whether that’s with the boys or the girls does not really concern her, “The game will let me know. I’ll go where the game takes me.” Go, Emma! We know you’ll shut the door… 

If you’d like more information about local and provincial lacrosse, please go to warlockslacrosse.com and/or ontariolacrosse.com