This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Marshall chapter.
We sat down with Marshall University Women’s Lacrosse team coach Sarah Conners, senior broadcast major from Cincinnati, OH., to find out a little bit more about her crazy life that’s split between being on camera and being on the field!
HC: What made you decide to come to Marshall University?
S: Growing up I always thought i would stay in the Cincinnati area and go to either the University of Cincinnati or Dayton, but I just started to get sick of always being stuck with the same people, I had watch my older brother and friends who went to college in the area and it seemed like they were just hanging out with the same people and not making any new friends, I over heard a girl one day saying how she was going to Marshall, that day I went home and researched everything about the school and set up a shadow day with the one and only Dan Hollis for the following week and immediately fell in love with Marshall. I even came back to tour twice after I was excepted because I was so excited.
HC: When and how did you get into Lacrosse?
S: My older brother had been playing for awhile and my mom had bought me a girls stick so that I could toss in the back yard with him, about two weeks before my first indoor kind of ” learn how to play” league I was diagnosed with diabetes. I was in the hospital for a week and a half and had first first ever lacrosse game three days afterwards. I was terrified. Would my blood sugar go low? Would I pass out? Was I even any good? But after that first game, Lacrosse just kind of felt like my motivator. It had pushed me out of my comfort zone and I LOVED IT! I knew it was something I could never give up.
HC: What got you to go from playing to coaching?
S: Well, in the first year of starting the program here, for weeks after every game I felt like I had pulled every muscle in my left leg, It wasn’t until I was at my diabetes check up after the season that I explained this to my doctor and he found multiple hematomas in my leg and tears in the connecting muscle fibers of my hip and behind my knee. I decided to put off surgery until after school and would tape my leg all last year and still play but it was clear i just couldn’t move the way that I used to, I didn’t want to leave to program since it has basically become my life in college so the exec board voted to bring me in as the coach so that I could still be there my senior season.
HC: Do you miss playing?
S: I still get to play a little bit, I play attack so that I’m not running up and down the field and straining my leg. My focus when I was the captain was about talking to reefs during games and playing my best, as coach now I kinda help teach the girls a little bit more, communicate with them on the field about what’s working and whats not, so technically I am the coach, but I still get to sneak on the field for a little bit each game haha.
HC: What’s your favorite thing about being a coach?
S: Lacrosse will always be a love of mine and a huge part of my life, and I love sharing that with other people, I love watching the team grow and I love sharing and teaching something that has helped me through a lot of tough times and been a part of a lot of the good times of my life with other people.
HC: What made you decide to study broadcast journalism?
S: I actually really always wanted to be a nurse, I was pretty good with needles from being diabetic, but my body doesn’t handle stress well and my blood sugar usually drops, so caring for people may not have been the best profession if I’m going to be passing out while putting in a IV. So my mom actually talked me into thinking about journalism; she was always saying how good I’d be at it and that it looked fun. My mom’s a pretty persuasive woman and after meeting with Dan Hollis and touring the journalism school I was sold.
HC: What do you see (or hope to see) yourself doing with your major 5 years from now?
S: In five years I hope to be working in the world of journalism in some way, and I would LOVE for my job to affiliated with college sports.
HC: What’s your favorite project (journalistically) that you’ve worked on so far?
S: All of the investigative stories that I’ve done for MU Report have probably been my favorite things I’ve done, I did a story on sexual assaults as well as internet crimes and they were just really [interesting] to work on.
HC: What’s your favorite thing about the J-School?
S: My favorite thing about the Journalism school is just to overall attitude that everyone has, we all get along with not only our peers but our teachers as well, and I love that I don’t just come to class everyday and take notes and test. My classes are hands on, I’m writing columns or learning something new about a camera or filming a newscast – everyday is something new and exciting and the people I work with are some of the more fun people I’ve ever met.
HC: Journalism is a major that requires a lot of time – especially the broadcast side of it. How do you balance that along with work and lacrosse?
S: It’s really hard. There’s times when the person I need to interview can only meet during practice or during a time that I’m scheduled to work and I just really have to schedule out my time in advance and start on my stories early so that i can get some hours in at work and devote as much time as I can to my team.
HC: What advice do you have to give for girls interested in trying their hand at lacrosse?
S: DO IT! A lot of the girls on our team had never played before they joined, we’re not worried about who’s the best or what the score is we just focus on having fun and the girls who come get to play. Thats the only rule we really have, and it’s a great work out. Its also a great way to get involved in your school and a great way to make friends.