MIS Teacher, Ms. Erhardt, Changes Lacrosse History! 

By Anna S. and Isabella D., Grade 10

This is Ms. Erhardt playing as a goalie in the tournament  

On Friday September 20^th, the Woman’s Lacrosse championship has started in in the United States of America. Lacrosse, the fast-paced sport, that in woman’s games, have 12 people on the field, goes all the way back to the native American tribes and was playing was a cultural tradition. Now, the sport is highly popular in the United States and in Canada but is slowly starting to reach its way out to more countries. This year was the first year that woman’s lacrosse had its own championship and worldwide tournament, which Germany was invited to, and participated in. In the national German team, there is a team member who is a part of the MIS community; Ms. Erhardt, a PHE teacher! Ms. Erhardt is a valuable player on the team as a goalie and will share her experiences during this journey with us! 

What is Lacrosse? 

If you don’t know what the sport Lacrosse is already, here is a brief explanation of the game. The sport lacrosse is played on either a field or an indoor rink and playing indoor or outdoor lacrosse are different types of lacrosse. In the women’s Lacrosse championship, it was played on an indoor field. The equipment needed or recommended for safety when playing the game is protective gear, helmets, gloves, and shoulder pads. And each player on the field has a lacrosse stick that includes a net on the end of the stick, which is used to catch and control the ball in gameplay.  

Who is Ms. Erhardt and what did she do for the team?  

Ms. Erhardt is one of the many amazing PHE teachers at Munich International school. When the German National Woman’s Lacrosse team was invited to go to the world championship, Ms. Erhart also traveled with the team as the backup goalie. During her time on the court and off the court, she kept us informed with any updates on the tournament and answered some questions we had about the tournament and about her and how she’s doing throughout this whole process.   

What is special about this tournament compared to Germany practice? 

When we spoke with Ms. Erhardt, she discussed the atmosphere in the arena and she described it as “great” and that “our men’s team is awesome and supports us,”. When talking and training for preparation for the championship games, Ms. Erhardt endured throughout the tournament there is “currently a lot less than before”, only training about 2 hours a day. During the 2 hours of daily training, Ms. Erhardt focuses on technique and strategies in game, rather than the usual fitness training she works on.  

What were some challenges in the tournament? 

Not everything was just physical about the whole preparation for the tournament, but there were also some mental blocks that Ms. Erhardt discussed with us. A mental challenge for Ms. Erhardt was that she could not always be on the field, even though when she was, she received an MVP award for Defense. Competing against Ms. Ehrhart for the opportunity to play on the field as goalie is a German woman’s national team player as well as 2^nd best in the world, she mentions that it is difficult to support her team during games when she is not playing “because I always need to be ready to go in and try to not emotionally engage into the game, to go on with a clear mind”.  

Concentions and Conclusion  

Throughout this tournament, Ms. Erhardt had the opportunity to connect and befriend different people from all around the world and create connections with teams such as team USA and team Canada who helped with “gear adjustments throughout the tournament”. This experience is not only an amazing opportunity for Ms. Erhardt to show her skill and get this incredible experience but also for the MIS community to show how proud to have a teacher from our school be the first to compete as a woman in a championship lacrosse tournament. Not only that but also the people of Germany are thrilled that there is finally a spot for German female lacrosse players so show off their talent against different countries and for us to learn more about this thrilling sport.