On Tuesday, at Coppell Middle School North’s football field, the Coppell girls lacrosse team is running drills and working on passing cleanly to teammates in motion. In the cloudy and warm weather, Coppell sophomore and attackman Sydney Frieder focuses on hitting targets while moving. She and her teammates continue making jokes in line, awaiting the drill and keeping each other’s energy up. 

In 2020, Frieder suffered a broken nose after being hit in the face with a lacrosse ball. In September, she broke her foot while walking in the homecoming parade with the Coppell lacrosse team. A car in the parade accidentally ran over her foot. Though lacrosse has led her to injury, Frieder’s love for the sport continues to be a major part of her life. 

How was your team there for you when you went through your injuries?

When I broke my foot, my team was with me and comforted me. I would come to practice with my boot on and sit out, but they would always try to be interactive and find ways that I could be in the drills, help out and interact with the team while I was hurt. When I broke my nose, it was easier to work around than my foot because I was waiting for when my surgery was scheduled and then I had to just wait it out. But, I was really careful, and my coaches and teammates were just always there for me. They treated me the same and made sure they were more careful around me.

Why did you decide to continue playing lacrosse in high school?

I heard a lot of good things about [lacrosse] when I joined in sixth grade. I got asked by a friend, and I hadn’t heard about lacrosse before then. But I had so much fun, and it is a really good team sport. The structure of our team is very strong. I continued to play in high school because I had older friends who continued to play in high school, and they told me really good things about it. I thought it would be exciting to play in high school, and, so far, it has been.

What lesson have you learned playing lacrosse?

The most important lessons have been [learning] how to keep your composure in hard situations, that your teammates are the most important thing, nothing is ever your fault alone because everything is a team decision and losing and winning are all a part of being on a team so there is nothing you could have done to personally affect that, everything is a team effort and getting along with your team is really important even if you don’t want to be best friends with them, that is fine but learning how to work with them on the field is really important and showing a sense of leadership and trying your hardest is important even if you do not think you are the best because effort and passion is all that matters.

What is your favorite memory with your team?

Our team dinners. We always have a ton of fun and we spend the whole time laughing together. A really important memory for me as well is our trips to [Texas A&M in College Station] for the tournaments that we have there. They are always so much fun and are one of the times when we really bond together. 

What is a piece of advice for people deciding whether they want to play lacrosse?

Try it out and see if you like it because with any sport, if you try it and you don’t like it that’s okay, but you should still try. It gives you opportunities to adapt. It’s a really enjoyable sport, and it’s very easy to pick up. It’s a very active sport and the team environment has always been very supportive and comforting. Everything about it is just so fun for me, and I hope other players get to experience it.

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