Rating #62566 Details

One thing that sometimes gets lost is just how big the jump from high school and club lacrosse to Division I lacrosse really is. While RMU is a lower D1 school it is still in it to compete and win games, conference championships and make the NCAA tournament. A lot of these girls were stars on their high school or club teams. Then they get to college, and suddenly they’re competing against 35 other talented players who were also stars in their own right. The expectations change. The game gets faster, the competition gets tougher, and the work required to stay on the field is on a completely different level. On top of that, these young women are managing college academics, living away from their families, adjusting to a new environment, and learning how to be part of a team where individual statistics aren’t the priority. It’s not always easy. There will be tough practices, uncomfortable moments, and times when players are pushed beyond what they thought they could handle. Coaches are supposed to challenge players, hold them accountable, and help them discover what they’re capable of. That process isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay. But sometimes the reality of competing at this level is a tough pill to swallow for both players and even more so parents. Coach Grove’s job is to put the best 12 players on the field, not simply the players with the best high school reputations or the parents who are the loudest. Playing time is earned every week at through effort, preparation, consistency, and performance in practice. I have seen that Coach Grove and her staff believe in this mindset, if you’re not putting in the work, you shouldn’t expect playing time to be handed to you! As parents, we all want to see our daughters succeed, and it’s never easy watching them struggle or sit on the sideline. But there’s a difference between a coach holding a player accountable and a coach doing something wrong. Sometimes the hardest lessons are the ones that help these young women grow the most. In our experience, Coach Grove has helped our daughter grow as both a player and a person. Division I lacrosse demands commitment, resilience, and accountability. Not everyone will agree with every decision a coach makes, but that doesn’t mean the program is failing or the coach isn’t doing her job. Sometimes the issue isn’t that the expectations are too high. It’s that the reality of college athletics is very different from what some players and parents expected. I respect what Coach Grove is building at RMU and believe players and families should understand that commitment before judging a program based on playing time or difficult experiences. When she took over this program she came into a locker-room full of entitled players. Change takes time and she has slowly made the changes to how she wants a program run. In the process she has lost a few players who where in it for their individual ackolades and others to bullying, which you can clearly see from the negative reviews from these same few people who are here to gaslight instead of take accountability. Commenting how the coaches bring their kids to practice as a bad thing? Coaching takes them away from their families and by having their kids at practice from time to time interacting with the players is not a negative. Would you make that same comment about UNC Jenny Levy bring her daughter to practices when she was younger and now on the team or BC’s Coach Walker bringing her daughter to practices and games. Coach Grove is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.