It was the day of her tryout for the national lacrosse team, with memories of her participation in eighth grade still fresh. However, as the day passed, current junior Sophia Silane kept finding herself doing less than what she felt like she was able to do during practices at home. Persevering, she pushed to the end, showing all she had in the athletic part of the tryout.

Silane turned on the phone and checked her email, but had no hope. As she scrolled down the page she found the sender, expecting to receive a casual rejection. Excitement filled her home as Silane raced through the house after receiving the news that she had made the national lacrosse team.

Her passion for lacrosse started when she began playing the sport in fourth grade with her best friend. Her interest first came from her desire to play a hands-on game.

“I joined in fourth grade because there wasn’t a girls football team, and I wanted an [equally] hands-on sport, so I joined with my best friend,” Silane said.

However, Silane was not born a prodigy, but rather worked her way up.

“We were so awful that they wouldn’t let us play on the team, so they would send us to the side to practice one-on-one, and we did that for a solid year,” Silane said.

As the years passed, with practice and hard work, she was able achieve what she has today, being a member of the nationally-ranked lacrosse team.

Not only is Silane part of this team, but she is also a member of the varsity girl’s lacrosse team. Silane had to face a great jump in her transition from eighth grade to ninth grade. She went from being the oldest on the team to the youngest, and it had a great toll on her confidence. By increasing the amount she practiced and participating in even more tournaments outside of school, she was able to rebuild her confidence.

“Over time, I just got comfortable and forced myself to get out there,” Silane said.

With her hard work and positive attitude Silane was able to become an essential part of her lacrosse team.

“She brings positive energy to the team and is one of the top scorers of the team, bringing our team closer to victory. She is also very friendly to other teammates,” sophomore and varsity lacrosse team member Jaewon Kim said.

Along with all of the team members who were proud of Silane, so was her coach.

“I was super proud of her. A lot of hard work went into getting those positive results. It has been awesome to see her develop over the course of years and see other people recognize that,” lacrosse coach Grant Davis said.