We had a visitor this Saturday and he reminded us of the 5 S's of Sport, but he highlighted the very last one, Spirit. And this is a great reminder to us, as a team, that spirit is hard to measure, unseen, but at the very heart of each individual. As it runs through our blood, it collectively runs through the team. Spirit is the belief in yourself, in your team, and your focus and persistence to fight through any challenge. It's not just the words or the thoughts, but the actions that follow those words. It's the smiles and tears, it's the successes and the losses, and it's the invisible cloak that we carry around with us.

This past week we had two games, one win against Wakefield High School, where we traveled all the way to Arlington, VA. Then we had a home loss to Stone Bridge HS, however I have a feeling we may see them again. After such a week, we have to put our cloak back on, and feel those moments of victory, sweat, anxiousness, disappointment, and discouragement and LEARN from them. How can we pick our spirit back up when it's down? How can we mid-game, turn things around from anxiousness to sweat and victory? Because these moments, they are our spirit. They run through us, no one else can feel them. No parents, no opponents, no one at our school. Just us. So this week, we are ready for these moments. We want to feel our spirit and let the cloak lead us, unseen, into our tough stretch of games.

And the practice player of the week goes to.....LUISA SANTOS!!! This girl has come back from surgery, yes surgery, and is killing it back at practice. We joke that she is a "robot" but lately it is true, she has come out fighting with her battery 100% charged. Luisa NEVER STOPS, and hasn't since her surgery, since watching her teammates from the sideline all season, and since all those physical therapy sessions and doctor appointments. Who else never stops?? She has set the bar as high as possible.

This Tuesday we will be honoring our Seniors, as they all go off and head to college. We are so proud of how hard they work in the classroom, with those SAT scores, and with their extracurriculars. These are some top notch women....

Layne...Emory and Henry

Sam..West Virginia

Danah....VA Tech

Rachel....VA Tech

Sonali...VA Tech

D....JMU

Swank....Penn State

Torres...Penn State

Luisa...Coast Guard Academy

Chestnut...Christopher Newport

Congratulations!!! We are SO proud of you and you will be DEEPLY missed!!!!