In her first full season as Hornet girls lacrosse coach, Lindsey Hartfiel is facing numerous challenges.

Hartfiel was actually hired to coach the squad in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the season was canceled and everyone began planning for this year. Hartfiel recruited Zach Barzee to be her assistant and unfortunately they have signed up just 20 girls to participate meaning they likely will only have a varsity squad for the spring season.

“As girls lacrosse is fairly new to the Midwest Big Lake Schools AD hired me on as I had played lacrosse myself when I was in high school for Buffalo,” Hartfiel said. “I’m hoping that by having some previous experience in the sport I can help grow the Big Lake Girls Lacrosse Program.”

No captains have been named at this time and since Hartfiel’s team is somewhat young, her team leaders likely will be upperclassman and girls that have played the sport of lacrosse in the past.

Hartfiel and her team will have an awful lot of new experiences this year, being it Hartfiel’s initial start at the helm, but she is sure her biggest rival will likely be the Becker Bulldogs under their coach, Annica Lundeen.

Even though some of the COVID restrictions have been loosened since this time last year, there are still protocols the team needs to adhere to to avoid contamination and transmission.

“As a coach, some of the challenges will be keeping up with the current state and MSHSL guidelines for COVID protocol,” Hartfiel said. “We have received news that players are to wear their masks at all times for practices and competition at this time.”

Hartfiel’s background is that she played two seasons of lacrosse at Buffalo High School in her junior and senior years. 

“As lacrosse was a new sport at that time there weren’t many coaches of the sport who had played it previously,” she said. “For my limited lacrosse experience, I have played hockey since I was five, and was fortunate enough to play in college as well. I hope that my previous lacrosse and hockey experience can help me create a competitive program here in Big Lake.”

Being a first year coach, one of the challenges Hartfiel has is getting each player to a similar skill level as they likely will only have one varsity team, and there are quite a few players who haven’t played lacrosse before. 

“In the early part of this season I want to make sure all the players understand the basics of lacrosse including the rules and how to play the game before moving onto implementing systems,” Hartfiel said. “There are some returning players who know the game and can demonstrate the skills required. I feel this will be effective in getting our players to a similar playing level.”

Hartfiel is sure Minnesota lacrosse is a growing sport, and the pastime is gradually getting more student athletes out to participate. 

“I feel the more players that decide to play lacrosse in youth and continue to play during the off season months the more successful high school programs will be,” she says.