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There were regional tryouts around the country for about 300 girls that were by invitation only and from these 300 players, 70 were invited back to Maryland to try out for the team, which comprises 22 players.
On Aug. 30, while sitting in her comparative governments class, Dewitt received a text from her father to check her email which informed her that she had been chosen for the U17 team: "When I saw that I had made it, I almost started crying in class because I was so overwhelmed with emotions of relief and excitement. It was the coolest feeling ever."
When she got the invitation in July, Dewitt, who will be attending UC Berkeley next year, knew that she was going to be competing against the top players in the country and she put her preparatory efforts into overdrive: "I trained a lot on my own and got some Cal players to play defense on me and push me so I could get intensity workouts in. I did a lot of conditioning, shooting sessions with my high school teammates and wall ball every day to prepare myself. As a captain of the team last year and when I hurt my knee as a sophomore, I learned how to become a better teammate and a leader through my actions and that helped me during the tryouts as they were definitely looking for people that are good teammates."
The combined tryout entailed individual events in the broad jump, the vertical jump, and 10-yard spring buildup for time and agility drills. There was also 2 on 2, 4 on 4 and 7 on 7 team competitions designed to show who was able to play unselfishly and creatively with the other players. As competitive as it was, the players were there for each other, said Dewitt: "Every single drill was really intense and was meant to push us and all the girls were putting in a total effort. It was an intense setting but everyone was super supportive of each other, cheering each other on and being the best teammates we could be. That does not always happen and that was really cool."
There was more than just competition on the field for the players, said Dewitt: "A top high school coach talked to us about what it means to be a good teammate and to be the best player and person you can be on and off the field and how it was important to have a short-term memory when you are playing and make a mistake and not think about it, and how you can recover from it. We also had a sports psychology session and a recruiting session for the juniors."
Though lacrosse is a national sport, the best players and teams come primarily from the East Coast, says Dewitt: "Everyone there is so good and there are so many good club and high school teams where they play all the time. It was the best competition that I have played against and I just learned to go hard with everything that I did."
Of the 22 girls on the squad, 20 of them were from East Coast states (Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia). Dewitt and a player from Illinois were the only members of the team west of Pennsylvania.
Players on the national senior team were used to evaluate the competitors and Dewitt got to meet Taylor Cummings, who is regarded as the best female lacrosse player in the country and a three-time winner of The Tewaaraton Award, which honors the most outstanding male and female collegiate player and recognizes the Native American heritage of the sport of lacrosse when she played at the University of Maryland: "Taylor Cummings has always been my role model and inspiration. It was cool to meet her and some of the other evaluators."
Dewitt invests about two hours a day on lacrosse with running, lifting and skill work and besides playing for Miramonte and the Tenacity club team, her goal has been to play for a national team like the USA Select U17 Team: "It's always been my dream to play for my country and represent it because I feel that it's the ultimate and highest level that you can play."
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA