By Nora Ryan
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/19/24
A 20-minute drive to see your grandparents while going to college in the Florida sun doesn’t sound too bad, does it?
For Rebecca Clark, a sophomore midfielder at Lynn University, and an Academy of the New Church graduate, this is her reality. Clark, who tries to pay a visit to her grandparents every Sunday while at school, says that family and location were key factors in her decision to play Division II lacrosse at Lynn’s Boca Raton campus.
“Actually, I have family down here so when the coaches reached out to me and followed up…my parents and I, we looked where it was located and we were like ‘Oh, Boca Raton that’s close to Boynton Beach,’” said Clark. “My grandparents do have a vacation house down here so we’re like ‘Oh, okay let’s look at the school.’”
After a tour of the campus and an overnight with the team, talking with the coaches convinced Clark that Lynn “really felt like home.”
And Clark’s debut season was a huge success.
In her freshman year, Clark was named the Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year and made All-SSC Second Team honors. She collected 25 goals – the ninth highest single-season total in Lynn history – 26 ground balls, 16 caused turnovers, and 44 draw controls.
Clark’s first few months, however, weren’t all sunshine and rainbows.
“Coming in I was super nervous, I did not know what to expect,” she said. “I’m super hard on myself so honestly, fall was a struggle for me. I would come into the Coach’s office and be really upset like, ‘Why am I doing this wrong?’ I was just putting so much pressure on myself thinking I had to come in and be the star player.”
Mistakes were something she could easily fix. Clark says she went on winter break last year and focused heavily on working out, wall ball, and all the other little things that were under her control. Revamping the mental side of it, however, was easier said than done.
“It was really just confidence,” she said. “I mean, you know how to play the game of lacrosse… it’s just that inner side that needs to come out and just be confident in what you know how to do.”
That confidence showed when Clark emerged during the 2023 season.
After seeing her overcome these obstacles, Lynn Head Coach Mindy Richmond had nothing but praise and high expectations for Clark as the Fighting Knights gear for Tuesday’s 4 p.m. opener vs. visiting Lincoln Memorial in Boca Raton.
“Becca is absolutely a team-first type of athlete,” said Richmond, whose been the program’s only coach since it launched in the 2020 season. “She’s been absolutely incredible for our culture. She’s not an athlete we ever have to question how much effort she’s going to bring, because she brings one hundred percent, always.
“She’s been a leader simply because she cares so much about lacrosse. She cares about getting it right. She’s willing to put the extra time in outside of practice and do the extra work.”
Richmond has high expectations for Clark and the team in 2024 after the Knights finished 12-6 last year and 22nd in the nation (3-4 in the rugged SSC conference and out of the playoffs)..
“It’s all this big adjustment period,” said Richmond. “So for her to be able to perform last season the way that she did, even with all those challenges that she was working through as a first year (player), I expect her to be that and more this season.”
When asked what goals were in mind for the upcoming season, both Clark and Coach Richmond were quick to reply.
“We lost a lot of games last year that we really shouldn’t have,” said Clark. “I think that we need to look at it a little bit differently and just show what we can do as Lynn Fighting Knights. I think we have something to prove this season and we all have the drive to do that or at least it’s coming together.”
Coach Richmond was a little more straightforward but nonetheless, agreeable.
“We’re expecting to make the playoffs this year,” she said, “We’ve fallen short the last two years, so making the conference playoffs is an expectation. I’m not going to say it’s a goal. It’s an expectation. And, you know, nationals, that’s our big goal. We want to make nationals.”
Lynn faces Rollins in its first conference game on February 25 in Boca Raton.
More on our interview with Rebecca Clark:
Question: What about academics? Were you looking for a specific major at Lynn?
Clark: Actually, a major did not bring me down here. I was undecided, so I figured it was best to come in undecided, because I know a lot of people do come in undecided, and then they end up switching it. I was thinking I might want to do something with sports or early education. I didn’t really like the early childhood education class here, but I did love the sports management class that I did take last year, so I declared my major (as Sports Management) over the summer. I love sports. I know I wanna do something with sports and a lot of the sports management classes are based on business classes. So even if I didn’t want to do sports management, I can move into a business major, and go from there.
Question: Why do you think you were so successful as a freshman?
Clark: Coming from ANC, obviously the school wasn’t that good at lacrosse, so I was always hard on myself. So I think just brushing the fall off, forgetting about it, because I really did struggle. I was so hard on myself, not so much anyone else like, nor the coaches, my teammates nothing. It was just myself. I wasn’t a starter for a few games. I think I started 8 games out of 18 games. I was also a little bit worried about that (starting), too, but that was nothing in my control, anyway. So I kind of just thought about what I can control. So every opportunity I got when I went out on the field I tried to prove everyone wrong and to play my role. Because I’m a midfielder, I did what I needed to do when I was out there. Every chance that I got.
Question: What do you and the team need to do to this season in order to be successful?
Clark: I think not being a freshman anymore, I’m definitely a lot more confident and wanting to help others. So these freshmen coming in, obviously, I know I struggled in the fall. So I think it’s just focusing on them, getting them confident; so our whole team comes together as a whole. And we really need to just work on those little things to bring success for our upcoming season.
Question: How do you think your role on the team will differ from last year?
Clark: I think just not being a freshman anymore. And knowing the plays that we ran last year, the defenses that we ran – it comes with confidence. And I think, being a leader on this team, or at least trying to be the best leader I can to help others, to show others what they need to be doing. If they have any questions – I want to answer them. Honestly, just being there for my teammates is the biggest thing and being the best leader I can be.
Question: Do you see lacrosse in your future beyond just college?
Clark: I hope so. I mean, I love the sport of lacrosse. I don’t necessarily know what I want to do in my future, I’m still figuring that out. I would love, love to coach in the near future. Not necessarily right out of college but honestly that could always happen, anything can happen. But just from the past coaches that I had, and the current coaches that I have, I feel like that is a passion that I would want to follow.
More from our interview with Head Coach Mindy Richmond:
Question: What stood out to you about Rebecca when recruiting her?
Richmond: The biggest thing with Becca and her game that really stood out to us was just the grittiness that she plays with. She is a tough physical player. Who plays with no fear. And you know that’s something that we’re really looking for in athletes.
Question: What are you looking from Rebecca this season? What will her role on the team be?
Richmond: All that and more! I think last year she was just starting to scratch the surface of what her abilities are. You know freshman year is a big challenge, just the change from high school to college, being part of a new team, having different coaches, you know, it’s all this big adjustment period. So I expect her to be, you know that, and more this season, because she doesn’t have all of those limitations and setbacks that she was having last season, because she’s been able to overcome those over the last year.
Question: How did Rebecca progress from the fall to the season last year in regards to her confidence?
Richmond: She was showing a little bit of frustration in a way that the team wasn’t rising to the occasion the way that she had hoped. I’ll be straightforward. I think that a little bit of Becca’s success last season came from some of that frustration that she was feeling with the dynamic of the team, and she wanted more, she wanted more unity and better connections. And when those things wouldn’t happen, she just took it in her own hands, and played with that frustration which was awesome for her – that she could use that, and that it helped her gain so much. But this year, the whole focus has been on raising the team up and getting everybody up to that level. There are certain players that really have that level of competitiveness and that toughness, that do-what-it-takes mentality. And that’s something that Becca’s got.
Question: How do you think Rebecca will impact your team’s performance this season?
Richmond: She’s going to be a huge role player for us, not only on the attacking end, but on the defensive end. And that’s where Becca really shines, because she’s impactful on both ends of the field.
