Alyssa Dunlap became head coach of the upper school girls lacrosse team this spring, replacing Danae Rodriguez. Andrew Newmark and chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine serve as assistant coaches this year.

Dunlap has played lacrosse since fifth grade. She led her high school team to three consecutive Pennsylvania state championships and was a two-time High School All-American. She was a four-year starter and the captain of Vanderbilt University’s lacrosse team.

Before coming to the upper school, Dunlap coached and directed Treelax Lacrosse Club, a national level travel team from Palo Alto, and coached the Stanford University women’s lacrosse program. The upper school’s will be her first high school team.

“What makes a good lacrosse team is teammates and a team that’s playing for one another and playing for a common goal,” she said. “It’s less about the individual play and more about working hard for one another. I think grit—it’s one of my favorite words—has a lot to do with the success of a team overall.”

Dunlap looks forward to not only coaching the lacrosse team but also teaching her athletes technique.

“The thing I look forward to most is teaching—not just coaching but teaching the actual technique and helping kids realize their potential and their potential as athletes but more specifically lacrosse players,” she said. “Be a sponge. Soak it all up. Learn as much as you can, and do your best to practice outside of what we do here if you want to be successful.”

Team tryouts started on Jan. 30 and will continue until Feb. 10.

Their first scrimmage will be held on Feb. 21 at Woodside High School, and their first game will be held on Davis Field on March 1 against Newark High School.

This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on February 21, 2017.