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“I’m excited to get to play lacrosse at a higher level than I’ve ever played before,” said Emma McLaughin, a 12th grade student at Rockbridge Academy, who has played lacrosse at Rockbridge since she was in fifth grade. She has received an athletic scholarship to George Washington University to play women’s lacrosse.

Emma is looking forward to college level coaching, opportunities to improve her skills, and a higher level of competition. She anticipates that games will be played at a much faster pace, and is ready to adjust to the speed of the games.

Emma remembers a home game at Arden when she was in the sixth grade. The Rockbridge team was losing by one goal to Indian Creek. She was determined to not lose their last game. She was standing by the opponent’s goal and Hannah Sweeney won the draw, then threw the ball down the field. Emma caught the ball and took a shot that went between the goalie’s legs to tie the game. This story shows that Emma is a determined and hard-working player.

One of Emma’s teammates, Inga Sohmer, who played soccer, basketball and lacrosse with her thinks lacrosse is the sport she’s most passionate about; Inga can definitely tell through practices and how she’s always been a really encouraging teammate. “She’s always excited; she’s always encouraging us even if we aren’t doing that well,” Inga said.

This next story shows a time when Emma kept fighting to help a teammate who was new to the sport. Inga remembers a lacrosse game when she was new to the sport. She was the person behind the goal who passed to the cutters. The coach told Emma to pass the ball to any open player, so Emma passed the ball to Inga, and they tried over and over to score and didn’t give up and eventually, Inga caught the ball and scored a goal.

Inga also remembered that sometimes when she and Emma would drive to practices and games, they would always play the song ‘Girl on Fire’ by Alicia Keys. They would scream the lyrics and would always get very hyped up for the game or practice. Emma always brought energy and excitement even in the small moments.

Emma’s former coach, Miss Godfrey, says the team will miss Emma and the energy she brought. Her teammates and coaches will also certainly miss the way she always hyped everyone up before games.

As Emma goes to play at college, she will be missed, but like Inga said, “I just know she’s gonna do amazingly, and I’m really, really happy for her about that."