Sticks up for Coach Schmidt

Photo+courtesy+of+Jack+Oakley.

Photo courtesy of Jack Oakley.

Sophia Osborn, Reporter

While gearing up for next year’s season, girls varsity lacrosse is getting a new head coach: coach Greg Schmidt. As their head coach, Schmidt is ready for next year’s season in its entirety.

Schmidt was an assistant coach for the junior varsity team last year. When the previous varsity coach stepped down, Schmidt was there to take the lead.

“I helped coach the JV team last year and got to know the varsity head coach, Jana Bradley, fairly well and she recommended me to the Athletic Department when she decided to step down,” Schmidt said. “I then applied for the position because I love to coach and CHS is a great place to be.”

Having had coaching experience before, Schmidt feels that he is ready to take on the responsibility of coaching the varsity girls and lead them to wins. He has 13 years of experience with lacrosse under his belt.

I moved here from the St. Louis area and coached two high schools around there, at O’Fallon, Illinois and at Webster Groves, Missouri,” Schmidt said.

With the change of coaching happening suddenly, the coaches want the girls to be as comfortable as possible. One change that Coach Schmidt could be implementing is new jerseys. 

“The team was growing and improving so much last year so we’ll build on that,” Schmidt said. ”I think we might be looking to get black uniforms in the future.”

Players like sophomore Tayla Pike have an optimistic look on the new coach, and are excited for lacrosse in the future. Pike is ready to see what the new coach brings to the table and how he can better the team.

“He’s very supportive and he seems to be willing to listen to the girls and change things up a bit to make things better,” Pike said. 

Having the support of the girls behind him, Schmidt feels ready for the 2021 season ahead. With the previous coach serving for a long time, the time has come for them to step down and for Coach Schmidt to step up.

“We are always going to be looking to add to our coaching staff so that we have more people to help teach the student athletes,” Schmidt said. “This is a fantastically talented group of athletes and they will be absolutely amazing.”