June 28, 2007
by Clare Lochary, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
When Emily Geary's fifth-grade classmates had to list their top three choices for which instrument they'd like to try in band, most of the girls ranked the flute as number one.
Geary didn't, though. The high, reedy sound of the flute didn't appeal to her nearly as much as the bright blast of the trumpet. Plus, her father was a trumpet player.
"I think I liked it because it was loud," said Geary. "The flute just wasn't for me."
She made a similarly bold choice on the lacrosse field. Geary was one of those girls who couldn't wait to strap on a helmet and get in the cage. Paternal influence played a role again -- her father was a goalie for Georgetown in the early 1980s -- but there was just something about that special space inside the crease that appealed to her.
"I just always wanted to play goalie," said Geary, a senior at Radnor (Pa.) High School who began playing lacrosse in the fourth grade. "I've always been an athlete, but I've never been one of those people who could run up and down the field 30 times. But in the goal, I was pretty quick."
Geary's natural quickness in the crease, combined with several years of dedicated practice, has earned her a spot on the 2007 U.S. Women's Under-19 Team. But while Geary spends a lot of time between the pipes, she still hasn't put down her horn. She plays the trumpet for her school's jazz, concert and marching bands, as well as a church group. Music provides a relaxing release for someone who plays what is arguably the most stressful position on the field, and Geary has incorporated the creativity she learned from the trumpet into her game.
"For me, [the trumpet] hasn't really been a competitive thing," Geary said. "I like it, and I'm decent at it, but I'm not really going places with it, so it's more of a fun thing for me. I meet different people, and learn things I never would have."
Geary brings that sense of balance to the field, where she does her best to maintain a cool head. She learned visualization techniques from Alex Kahoe and Kirah Miles, a pair of fellow Pennsylvania natives who both played goal at Maryland and once coached Geary's club team.
"I think about two or three things that I want to do besides saving the ball. Sometimes you have an off day and you're just not saving the ball," Geary, a natural lefty, said. "Goalie's so mental. If you can focus on something else to do well, like clearing or communicating, you'll do better. You're not thinking about `Oh, they just scored 10 on me.'"
Geary prefers jazz band to concert band -- the performances are less formal and the music is more dance-friendly. (She likes country music best of all, but it is a genre sadly lacking in trumpet solos.) Her favorite group to play with is the marching band, because it allows her to indulge in another passion: "I'm kind of obsessed with football. If I was a guy, I'd definitely want to be on a football team. Having an excuse to go to away games is cool."
Geary's athletic hero is former Denver Broncos star John Elway, and on the field she thinks of herself as a quarterback. A lacrosse goalie who patterns her game after an offensive playmaker sounds counterintuitive, but Geary likes getting things started.
"When I have the opportunity, I like going for the fast break clear, going for the long pass," Geary said. "Sometimes you can lead from the goal rather than relying on the offense to make every play. It's really a morale booster and gets up the energy of the team."
As a former goalie himself, her father John appreciates the subtleties of her evolution as a player: "She loves stopping balls, but then over the last couple years, it's the offensive thing. Clearing is such a big thing. She really worked a lot on that. She can throw lefty very well, and she can throw righty really well.
"In her mind, she's playing quarterback, rolling out to get a receiver."
All that playmaking on the move sounds remarkably like jazz improvisation. John appreciates her performance off the field as well: "Whereas a lot of kids drop instruments, she accelerated. She's really very accomplished. It's also been kind of neat -- trumpet, tuba, trombone, those are guy instruments."
Music and lacrosse sometimes combine in more obvious ways. Geary often finds herself singing in the goal, when she's either bored or stressed. She hopes to keep up with the trumpet when she heads to William and Mary in the fall to play lacrosse for the Tribe, but it may be tough to do when competing at the Division I level.
If nothing else, she can keep singing to herself in the goal.
For more on the U-19 team, which will compete in the IFWLA U-19 World Championships this summer (Aug. 4-12) in Canada, please visit the team's home page.
June 28, 2007
Note: This article was excerpted from the May 2006 issue of Lacrosse magazine, a member benefit of US Lacrosse. To begin receiving your monthly subscription, become a member today.
by Clare Lochary, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
When Emily Geary's fifth-grade classmates had to list their top three choices for which instrument they'd like to try in band, most of the girls ranked the flute as number one.
Geary didn't, though. The high, reedy sound of the flute didn't appeal to her nearly as much as the bright blast of the trumpet. Plus, her father was a trumpet player.
"I think I liked it because it was loud," said Geary. "The flute just wasn't for me."
She made a similarly bold choice on the lacrosse field. Geary was one of those girls who couldn't wait to strap on a helmet and get in the cage. Paternal influence played a role again -- her father was a goalie for Georgetown in the early 1980s -- but there was just something about that special space inside the crease that appealed to her.
"I just always wanted to play goalie," said Geary, a senior at Radnor (Pa.) High School who began playing lacrosse in the fourth grade. "I've always been an athlete, but I've never been one of those people who could run up and down the field 30 times. But in the goal, I was pretty quick."
Geary's natural quickness in the crease, combined with several years of dedicated practice, has earned her a spot on the 2007 U.S. Women's Under-19 Team. But while Geary spends a lot of time between the pipes, she still hasn't put down her horn. She plays the trumpet for her school's jazz, concert and marching bands, as well as a church group. Music provides a relaxing release for someone who plays what is arguably the most stressful position on the field, and Geary has incorporated the creativity she learned from the trumpet into her game.
"For me, [the trumpet] hasn't really been a competitive thing," Geary said. "I like it, and I'm decent at it, but I'm not really going places with it, so it's more of a fun thing for me. I meet different people, and learn things I never would have."
Geary brings that sense of balance to the field, where she does her best to maintain a cool head. She learned visualization techniques from Alex Kahoe and Kirah Miles, a pair of fellow Pennsylvania natives who both played goal at Maryland and once coached Geary's club team.
"I think about two or three things that I want to do besides saving the ball. Sometimes you have an off day and you're just not saving the ball," Geary, a natural lefty, said. "Goalie's so mental. If you can focus on something else to do well, like clearing or communicating, you'll do better. You're not thinking about `Oh, they just scored 10 on me.'"
Geary prefers jazz band to concert band -- the performances are less formal and the music is more dance-friendly. (She likes country music best of all, but it is a genre sadly lacking in trumpet solos.) Her favorite group to play with is the marching band, because it allows her to indulge in another passion: "I'm kind of obsessed with football. If I was a guy, I'd definitely want to be on a football team. Having an excuse to go to away games is cool."
Geary's athletic hero is former Denver Broncos star John Elway, and on the field she thinks of herself as a quarterback. A lacrosse goalie who patterns her game after an offensive playmaker sounds counterintuitive, but Geary likes getting things started.
"When I have the opportunity, I like going for the fast break clear, going for the long pass," Geary said. "Sometimes you can lead from the goal rather than relying on the offense to make every play. It's really a morale booster and gets up the energy of the team."
As a former goalie himself, her father John appreciates the subtleties of her evolution as a player: "She loves stopping balls, but then over the last couple years, it's the offensive thing. Clearing is such a big thing. She really worked a lot on that. She can throw lefty very well, and she can throw righty really well.
"In her mind, she's playing quarterback, rolling out to get a receiver."
All that playmaking on the move sounds remarkably like jazz improvisation. John appreciates her performance off the field as well: "Whereas a lot of kids drop instruments, she accelerated. She's really very accomplished. It's also been kind of neat -- trumpet, tuba, trombone, those are guy instruments."
Music and lacrosse sometimes combine in more obvious ways. Geary often finds herself singing in the goal, when she's either bored or stressed. She hopes to keep up with the trumpet when she heads to William and Mary in the fall to play lacrosse for the Tribe, but it may be tough to do when competing at the Division I level.
If nothing else, she can keep singing to herself in the goal.
For more on the U-19 team, which will compete in the IFWLA U-19 World Championships this summer (Aug. 4-12) in Canada, please visit the team's home page.
