By Jensie Bahr | September 14, 2016

New lacrosse coach will focus on game, not team admin

The new women’s lacrosse coach intends to shed the administrative duties typical of club sport coaches at Utah State University in favor of an rapt focus on training and strategy.

Jessika Carlstrom, a former Aggie assistant who took over the head coaching position from Michelle Oliver, said she has no intention of scheduling scrimmages and dealing with fundraisers.

“This season, I want the players to handle those kinds of things," Carlstrom said. "My role will be leading practices and handling substitutes in games."

The former four-year player at Regis University in Colorado, who is now a graduate student at Utah State, said she would "be more focused on playing the sport, not organizing it.”

“She really wants this year to be more team-run,” said senior Weslie Hatch, the Aggies' leading scorer last season. “She’ll still be there to coach us, but she really wants us to do a lot of the planning, or if we have fundraising, then we’ll figure it out.”

Junior goalie Emma Juneau said she expects Carlstrom to bring new coaching elements to the team.

“She wants to bring new drills to practice," Juneau said. "If there are things to work on, she’ll go and research how to fix them if she doesn’t already know certain drills.”

In particular, Carlstrom said, she wants to improve the Aggies' ability to stave off the attack — and wants to ensure her team is in the best shape possible.

“I want to focus on getting our defense really strong this year,” Carlstrom said. “I’m trying to expand how I can help the team. I think getting in shape and running drills so we can last the whole game is really important.” 

To that latter end, the team has brought on a new trainer, Darren Hansen.

“We’re really excited for him to be our trainer this year because he knows a lot about how to get us in shape," Hatch said. "He already has a lot of goals set for us and the incoming freshmen.”

Carlstom said Hansen has been working with the players on footwork and speed, timing their runs "so that later on in the season, the girls can see what kind of progress they’ve made."