June 24, 2016
From Commodore Nation
By David Dawson
Emma Dagres is a midfielder for the Vanderbilt lacrosse team and is a four-year starter for the Commodores. The senior from Weston, Mass, recently sat down with Commodore Nation to talk about her sport’s growing popularity, her life as a Vanderbilt athlete and numerous other topics. Here’s a sampling of what she had to say:
CN: How does it feel to be a lacrosse player in the South? Obviously, the sport isn’t as big in this region as it is in some other parts of the country, but it seems to be picking up speed.
Dagres: I honestly do think that the South is growing in the lacrosse world, but there are a lot of people who still don’t know much about it. For example, sometimes our team will be eating a restaurant — even in Nashville — and people will ask us what lacrosse is. (Laughs) They always ask if I can connect it to another sport, so I tell them it’s like having a soccer team. It’s really hard to explain when someone doesn’t know anything about the sport. Coming from the Northeast, where I grew up – in Boston – it’s much bigger there than it is here, and I think it’ll be like that for a while. But again, I do think that the sport is growing in the South. It would be interesting if one day the SEC formed a lacrosse league. I would love for that to happen.
CN: When did you start considering Vanderbilt among your college choices?
Dagres: The funny thing is that I didn’t even know Vanderbilt had a lacrosse team when I was a sophomore in high school. I never really looked at colleges down south, knowing that it wasn’t the biggest sport down here. So when I was talking to my club coach about Vanderbilt being on my list of schools, I did my research and found out that it’s one of the only southern schools with a DI team.
CN: What’s your favorite part about lacrosse?
Dagres: That’s a tough question because there is so much about it that I love. I would say being with 11 other girls on the team that are motivated in the same way you are, and who are competing toward the same goal. Yes you want to win a game, but you’re all competing for the same thing and on the same page. It’s an awesome feeling when you go out there and connect with everyone and make things happen.
CN: How long have you been playing lacrosse?
Dagres: I picked up the sport in eighth grade. I was a soccer player my entire life. I was going to play soccer in college – it was my dream. I grew up with my cousin, who was a semi-professional soccer player, so soccer was kind of engrained into my brain. Then all the other girls started to play lacrosse, so I thought, why not give it a try? I loved the sport immediately, and when I was in high school I joined a club team called Revolution Lacrosse in the Boston area. All the girls started to join club teams because that’s how you get recruited for lacrosse.
CN: Do you ever still play soccer?
Dagres: I don’t. I miss it a lot. The funny story is, the last game that I ever played of soccer was the state championship – and we won. I don’t feel the need to ever go back and play because we ended on such a great note (laughs).
CN: How does the lacrosse appeal to the common sports fan?
Dagres: I feel like they’re changing rules every year to make it more fun to watch. Yes, they’re making it safer, but I think that over the years it’s become a faster-paced game. In high school there was a lot of rules that stopped us from playing, but now with the rule changes — like self-starts and others — it makes the game a faster pace and I think that’s what people like to watch. People don’t like to watch a game where the whistle blows every ten seconds. And that’s bad for the players, too. It’s awful when you’re on the field too and you’ve got this mojo and you’re having to stop every time the whistle blows. I think the NCAA is trying to do a better job at making the game faster paced and fun to watch. You can throw in some dirty checks here and there too and that’s fun to watch.
CN: What do you like to do in your free time?
Dagres: On the days when I don’t have a game or practice, I’m in my bed with my legs up, trying to feel them because I can’t after a game. Days off are very important to me because I need my mentality back. It’s nice to rest from lacrosse for a day because everything is always about lacrosse, especially as a DI athlete. The days that I do get to myself, I don’t take for granted.
