Q&A with Durango lacrosse junior Livie Rome
DURANGO, Colo. — Livie Rome, a junior from Durango High School Lacrosse, took the time to share with us about the sport of lacrosse. She has been playing for six years and also enjoys skiing and soccer.
What are your personal goals within your sport/athletic dreams?
Livie Rome: My personal goal within my sport is to possibly play it on the college level, and just enjoy the time I have playing lacrosse with my teammates.
What is the biggest challenge in your sport, and what do you do to manage this challenge?
Rome: The biggest challenge that I’ve faced so far has been being on a team with people that you aren’t compatible with. It unfortunately can force a lot of tension on the team as a whole, even though the conflict is only between you and the other person. Honestly, just leaving everything behind between you and the other person during “lacrosse mode” really helped get through the issue during practice and games.
What was the best advice you were ever given?
Rome: The best advice I’ve received has been, “If you don’t like what you’re doing, do something else.”
What do you love about your sport?
Rome: I love the community that surrounds lacrosse. I’ve traveled around the state to multiple tournaments and the overwhelming support from people you’ve never met before is amazing. There’s just a huge family that you’re automatically included in when you start playing lacrosse.
Do you have a pregame ritual you follow?
Rome: My pregame ritual mostly consists of listening to music. To get pumped up I usually listen to punk music or classic rock.
What do you like to do outside of your sport?
Rome: Outside of lacrosse, I enjoy skiing and creating artwork through painting and drawing. I also spend a lot of my time with friends and like to go sightseeing.
What has being a member of a team taught you?
Rome: Being a member of a team sport has taught me how to support the people around me even when I’m having a rough day. A lot of my teammates come into this sport looking for an escape from real life for a few hours, so learning how to create a positive space for them when I’m having a bad day myself has helped me learn those skills in the first place, but also bring them into other aspects of my life like school or work.
What is the best piece of advice you received from a coach or mentor?
Rome: The best piece of advice that I have received from a coach was from my own dad when he coached my team for a few years; you can’t do anything in a game without good stick skills. He would drill passing, catching, and ground balls, using your right and left hand, those skills are really the building blocks of everything. He pushed fluidity in those skills over being able to run the ball down the field or make a good shot.
Describe a mistake you made while competing and how you overcame it.
Rome: I don’t want to come across as saying I’m perfect, but I genuinely don’t remember any mistakes I’ve made during games. I guess just being in your head and constantly being negative about your game is a mistake. If you mess up, do it with 100% effort and work on fixing it with 100% effort. Having the wrong mentality about your mistakes is worse than the mistake itself.
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