Jess Roguski understands the stress the women?s lacrosse players at last weekend?s All Star Express at Kent Island High School went through as they looked to impress the hundreds of college coaches on hand looking for that next prized recruit.
The Loyola assistant knows this through first hand experience as she participated in the tournament as a player herself coming up with the Baltimore County-based Skywalkers club program. She used her performance there, along with her high school career at Liberty, to take her game to the next level at Vanderbilt.
However, All Star Express was only about the fifth of the size it is today as 56 teams competed during Roguski?s senior year in high school, compared to the 300 in 2006.
“I?m amazed at how much the club scene has changed even in the few years since I graduated from high school,” said Roguski, who spent two years as an assistant at Ohio University before joining Loyola?s staff last month. “This event is just so awesome and is the perfect location because so many of the top players are from this state.”
Vanderbilt assistant Megan Riley shared a similar, albeit a magnified, viewpoint with Roguski. The South River graduate was part of one of the first tournaments when only a handful of teams existed. This year, she not only had a chance to finalize opinions about players set to graduate in 2007, but to see those who will graduate anywhere between 2008 and 2013 as well.
“This event was so small when I participated in it,” Riley said. “The sport just keeps getting bigger and bigger every year.”
