Coaches have been known to compare their teams to a family. At the Garrison Forest School, the girls lacrosse team takes that concept literally.
Garrison Forest is coached by sisters, Kristin Nicolini and Reagan Raneri, and starts three pairs of sisters: Alex and Courtney Asdourian, Charlotte and Kate Tracey and Alissa and Whtiney Williams.
“We did not realize we had all these sisters during tryouts,” Nicolini said. “Something like that can go one way or the other, it can be a disaster or it can work out.”
The situation is working out for Garrison Forest (11-4). The team is 10-3 in the IAAM B Conference and Nicolini said that they should be seeded third in the conference tournament.
Raneri and Nicolin played together at Roland Park Country School and at Georgetown. “Everything that we concentrate on when we coach is what we learned, so it is easy to understand each other,” Raneri said.
Alex Asdourian, a junior defender, said that she enjoys being coached by sisters, and playing with her sister. “It has never happened before; it really helps us push each other,” Alex said.
Her younger sister, Courtney, is a sophomore attacker for Garrison Forest. “None of the sisters fight, so there is no controversy,” Courtney said.
Junior Kate Tracey is a leading attacker for Garrison Forest, and during practice she gets to shoot on her sister Charlotte, the Grizzlies? starting goalie.
“I am more competitive going against her in practice. Sometimes I won?t shoot as hard when she is nice to me,” said Kate.
“The older sisters are all friends and the younger sisters are all friends, and we all mix together,” Charlotte said.
Whitney Williams, a freshman midfielder, said she does not even notice all the sisters on the team. “I think you can?t even tell. The whole team is like sisters,” Whitney said.
Whitney?s older sister, Alissa, said that having so many pairs of sisters on the team is an added advantage. “It brings the team closer because the sisters know each other better,” she said.
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
» Kate Tracey and Alissa Williams are just juniors, but both are entertaining thoughts about playing lacrosse in college. Williams said she had not decided whether or not to play Division I or Division III. Tracey said she was interested in the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University. Coach Nicolini said that Tracey was also getting attention from Boston College and Johns Hopkins University.
» Raneri and Nicolini graduated from Roland Park in 1997 and 1998 respectively, and from Georgetown in 2001 and 2002. Both coaches played in four NCAA tournaments for the Hoyas. Nicolini played in two national championship games and Raneri played in one.
