Women's Lacrosse Game against Pfeiffer

Yesterday, Belmont Abbey and Pfeiffer fought a long, hard battle.  At half time, the score was seven to three, but not all hope was lost.  By the second half, both teams had flow.  Flow is "the state in which people are so involved in activity that nothing else seems to matter" (Csikszentmihalyi 1990).  There are nine dimensions of flow that are experienced.  The one most obvious in this game was the situation matched the skills.  By the end of the second half, the score was matched ten to ten.  With the stakes high, the teams entered over time that consisted of two three minute periods.  In the end, Pfeiffer scored one goal and was able to hold back the Crusaders from scoring in the remaining time.  Pfeiffer was able to pull through overtime because they were more mentally tough than the Crusaders.  Under pressure, they were able to maintain control and focus.

As a player on the Belmont Abbey squad, it is a hard loss to sallow because it was a loss only by one goal.  A game is all about who makes the least mistakes.  Maybe if our team had done one more thing differently, we would have won the battle.  Life is full of what ifs, but all we can focus on is learning from these mistakes and keep moving forward.  As a team, we never backed down and that is one point to appreciated.

More to come. #5

Men's Lacrosse Game against Lees-McRae

Yesterday afternoon, the Belmont Abbey men's lacrosse team played their second conference game against Lees-McRae.  Belmont Abbey came out strong and was leading by five at the half.  The Crusaders dominated 15 to 6 by the end of the game.

In the third quarter, different Belmont Abbey players were getting on the field.  One player, Charlie Kemp, took the field as an attacker.  From behind cage, Kemp drove to goal, but falling hard to the ground and landing on his bad knee.  Screaming in pain, Charlie remained on the ground as the trainers took the field.  The game was put on delay until the injury was taken care of.  An ambulance was called and his leg was immobilized. Being injured can be very traumatic and emotional for athletes.  Injuries can be career enders.  Even if an athlete get injured and recovers, the injured muscle, joint, or bone will never be exactly the same again.  Leaving athletes prone to further injuries.  This was Kemp's fourth knee injury and was able to display great mental toughness and positivity despite the disappointment and pain of the new injury.  Kemp has shown to the crowd true intrinsic motivation because of his will to do anything to play the sport he loves.

Unfortunately, the ambulance took 45 minutes to arrive at site.  Ambulances should always be active and ready at any contact sport site because of situations like Kemp's.  If it were a more serious, life threatening injury, the result may not have turned out the same due to the ambulances late response time.


More Belmont Abbey action to come. - #5

Note from the Author

Hello readers.  My name is Lauren DiChiara and I am a sophomore student-athlete at Belmont Abbey College.  For the second half of the semester, I am enrolled into a class called Sport Psychology.  In this class, we will be learning about the strategies and techniques used by coaches and sport psychologists to enhance personal growth and maximize performance. More specifically, we will focus on motivation, leadership, social interactions, mental training and program implementation. As a collegiate lacrosse player, I am faced with different aspects of sport psychology daily from my coaches, teammates, trainers, practices, games, etc.  I am excited to inform my readers about the life and insight of college athletics in relation to sport psychology.  Stay tuned.  #5