Friday, May 21, 2004

Multisport Maple always on the move

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

If you have seen Sally Maple, chances are she was a blur passing you at full speed.

The current junior at McIntosh, for only a matter of days longer, stays busy when she’s out of the classroom by playing lacrosse, football, basketball and hockey. There are barely enough hours in the day to contain all of Maple’s activity, but she just keeps going and going.

In eighth grade, Maple was introduced to lacrosse by several of her friends who had relocated to Peachtree City and had played the sport themselves. Lacrosse began to attract more and more players each year and this year, for the first time, there were enough girls to form an all girls lacrosse team. The girls took their lumps, going 0-5 and losing to more established teams from the north side of Atlanta and one team from Birmingham, Ala. More importantly though, the girls gained experience and now have the numbers to have a girls lacrosse team, as well as a boys team, based out of McIntosh next year, though nothing has been decided yet.

“We have the funding for the team and the sport is now sanctioned by the Georgia High School Athletic Association,” said Maple. “So I don’t know why we wouldn’t have a team next year.”

Lacrosse has experienced a boom in popularity in Fayette County. There are hundreds of players across several age groups picking up the sport and some of the teams are proving themselves to be dominant state-wide.

“It is just a unique game that is fun to play,” said Maple, when asked why she liked lacrosse. “I’ve played just about every sport and this is the most challenging.”

Maple really has played just about every sport. In fact, she plays them all in one year. In the fall, Maple plays football as a punter for the McIntosh Chiefs. She started as a manager for the team as a freshman and sophomore and began playing with the junior varsity team last fall. Though she has Wendy’s High School Heisman nominee Nader Jarun kicking in front of her and varsity playing time will be limited, she will likely play under the Friday night lights a bit this year. After football she heads to the basketball courts for the Lady Chiefs, playing center and forward.

In addition to playing on the high school sports teams, Maple began playing in-line hockey in the sixth grade and was part of the state champion high school in-line championship team in the ninth grade. Since then she has added ice hockey to her repertoire and plays as a goalie on both the ice and the floor.

Of course, you can’t play sports all the time. When Maple finally takes a breather she can be found coaching the U-12 Red Wings in-line hockey team, refereeing in-line hockey games, working out at the gym or following collegiate or professional sports. Not to mention keeping her grades up as she continues searching for a college or university with lacrosse and hockey. She has her eye on a few schools and is considering a career as a screenplay writer.

For now, she is looking forward to an active summer full of all the sports she loves. There is talk of a lacrosse camp being offered and, of course, a girls summer lacrosse league. However, the girls are looking for a coach who has some experience playing women’s high school or collegiate lacrosse. if you are interested or know someone who might be interested in that position, e-mail sports@thecitizennews.com.