Lauren Bennet, new assistant coach for women’s lacrosse, brings elements that will benefit the team.
“I think I have a different perspective that will really help. I was a draw specialist who is a big part of the game, and I think that extra element to our game will also help us,” Bennet said. “That is definitely something I am looking forward to contribute. That will be my baby [the draw]. I am definitely excited about that.”
Before Bennet, 23, joined the FSC team, she was working in England as a head coach at a high school, but a job offer appeared and she wanted to be back.
“I definitely wanted to be back in the States and do college athletics,” Bennet said.
According to Bennet, at a college level there is more intensity inside the sport.
“The focus is to win rather than high school and middle school where they are still learning. It is just a different intensity level,” Bennet said.
According to Bennet, she felt like a coach in a way when she was a player.
“I kind of had my little role as a coach before and I really liked falling into it that way. I enjoyed it and I wanted to continue perusing that as my career,” Bennet said
Even though Bennet is very close in age to the women on the team, they respect her.
“I think the relationship is going very well, I get along with everyone,” Bennet said.
The line of respect was drawn from the very beginning.
“They [women’s lacrosse] know that what I am saying is correct, they listen to me and trust my judgment and opinion,” Bennet said. “It is just something that you have to demand and it is hard because I am close in age with them, but they just have to know I am their coach and not their friend.”
According to Bennet, the key to be a successful coach is know the game, have passion for the game and recruit the right players.
“[Coach Kara] Reber has done a really good job in finding kids that fit into the Florida Southern philosophy. We want good kids with good grades,” Bennet said.
Bennet has been inside the lacrosse world since she was 13 years old. But it is not the only sport she played during her lifetime. In college, she also played field hockey.
“I like field hockey as well, I am just not as good at field hockey as I was at lacrosse. It was just different passion level,” Bennet said. “I also swam for a very long time. But you just find something that you like and you are really passionate about it, so that was how it was with me and lacrosse.”
Kara Reber, head coach of the women’s lacrosse team, has known Bennet since her sophomore year of college. She coached Bennet in lacrosse.
“She takes my ideas in consideration, we definitely bounced each other’s ideas a lot,” Bennet said. “I am the first assistant that she has ever had. In the beginning, it was kind of hard for her to give me tasks. Now, I have stuff to do.”
According to Benner, Reber has become used to having an assistant.
“We are friends, we get along. We have similar coaching philosophies in where we want to take this team. We are definitely on the same page,” Bennet said.
Photo courtesy of fscmocs.com
