Team Canada Lacrosse Player Erica Evans Credits Her Success To Her Box Lacrosse Background and Her Supportive Circle

I do believe my box lacrosse background has really shaped my game in women’s field lacrosse. It has taught me to be tenacious, to be aggressive.

Erica Evans

Midfield

Team Canada Women's Lacrosse

How did you first get into the sport of lacrosse? Tell us about your journey in becoming a Team Canada lacrosse player.

I first got into the sport of lacrosse when I was 4 years old. Started out playing on a boys house league box lacrosse team.

I did end up quitting lacrosse for a few years before I found the sport again after watching my older cousins play for the Peterborough Lakers Lacrosse team.

After that, I started playing on a girls box lacrosse rep team out of Peterborough for a number of years. I was introduced to women’s field lacrosse when I was in Grade 7 after I watched the Team Canada U19 Women’s lacrosse team play at the 2007 World Cup at Trent University in Peterborough.

After watching them play, I knew I had to as well. With women’s box lacrosse, there was nowhere to go with it, but with Women’s field lacrosse, I had the opportunity in the future to represent my country and get a scholarship to the States.

I always thought I was going to play Team Canada Hockey, but as I got older I started to really fall in love with the sport of lacrosse and knew I had more potential to be successful in it than hockey.

You began your lacrosse career in Peterborough, Ontario, a lacrosse haven known for curating some of the best stars in the sport. How were you able to take the fundamentals you learned from a young age and perfect your craft over the years?

I do believe my box lacrosse background has really shaped my game in women’s field lacrosse.

It has taught me to be tenacious, to be aggressive. It has taught me how to score in tight spaces, and to have a strong shooting accuracy.

I have also had many role models (Dad/Mom, cousins, and coaches) in my life that I have learned from and listened to. The knowledge that they share I just soak it up and go out and practice.

I think my love for the sport allowed me to enjoy going out and practicing on my own to be better and improve those fundamentals.

But In all honesty, I am still learning at 25, especially from some of the players that I coach, and I try to take that knowledge and practice it and put it into my game.

You’ve played NCAA lacrosse since 2014 for the Canisius College Golden Griffins and, most recently, for the University of Maryland Terrapins, where you captured a Division I national championship in 2019. What does it mean to you to have had these amazing opportunities in lacrosse, and what mentality are you bringing to these elite levels of sport?

Just having the opportunity to keep playing after high school is just incredible. Being able to receive an amazing education while playing lacrosse is an opportunity I wish I could go back and do again.

College lacrosse is competitive and a lot of hard work. You put in so much work behind the scenes just to play a game for an hour, it is definitely like having a full-time job on top of balancing school and everything else in your life. Some days are definitely a battle, but it is so rewarding in the end.

My mentality was always to have FUN, but compete and be the best. When you are having fun, you don’t worry about the mistakes that you make, you enjoy the time and the opportunity to step on the field and do what you love to do.

I am a very competitive person and that is what makes me want to do my best and to be the best every chance that I have.

At such an elite level that NCAA lacrosse is, having a strong mentality will help you be resilient and help push you to the top.

What are the three most important things for players to learn from their time as a varsity athlete in college or university?

I think one of the most important things to learn from being a varsity athlete in College/University is resiliency, to fight and recover from the mountains that you climb to the pits in between.

It definitely had its ups and downs, but you learn to be resilient through all those hard and challenging run tests,
or games.

I also learned to control the controllables. In sports you can’t control everything, but just how you react and handle things.

This is something that is valuable that I try to think about a lot in life as well.

Besides being able to win games, what does a “winning culture” within a team look like to you?

Winning culture can look like many different things, but I believe it starts with everyone supporting everyone, through success and challenges.

It is playing for the person beside you, knowing that they have your back and you have theirs.

It comes down to believing in your team values, believing in one another and believing in yourself.

Teams are successful when everyone buys in and believes in what they are doing.

You are involved in coaching and assisting the local girls’ lacrosse programs in your hometown of Peterborough. What does it mean to you to be able to give back to your community, and how are you able to transfer your knowledge and skills as a player to coaching?

I am so thankful for all the people that helped me along the way in my lacrosse career, I know that they supported me and wanted me to be the best.

Having the opportunity to do the same for the next generation of players, to support and believe in them is such a gift. I enjoy playing so much, but coaching is a whole different excitement.

It is so fun to watch girls grow and learn, then implement it in a game. A lot of my opportunities in lacrosse have come and gone, but being a part of someone else’s journey is rewarding and enlightening.