Jessica Bates, a player on the San Diego Women's Lacrosse Club Team, extols the virtues of playing out west.

As the sun rises across the nation, women of all different professions and backgrounds in all different fields, from everywhere, wake up to begin their day and continue the lives they have made for themselves. From East to Mid-West, Mountain to Coast, all of these amazing women start their day under the very same rise of the sun. In San Diego, California, a real estate agent, a chemical biologist, a pharmaceutical sales rep., and a business consultant begin each day looking toward their diverse and varied tasks. However, these women have one thing in common that most don't - they all play lacrosse. They are part of the San Diego Lacrosse Club, a post-collegiate team that travels to five or six different tournaments each year to compete against others like themselves. They are women who share a passion for a sport that they can't shake. Each one of these remarkable people have played for years and are involved actively in their community to extend the already far-reaching arm of women's lacrosse.

Many of those who engage in playing on the post-collegiate level out West are from the East. They are displaced, forgetting that which is behind them and reaching out to what lies before them; their west-coast dreams. Yet, lacrosse is one dream they can't leave behind, so they bring it along, to share their passions with others. This is just one of many ways lacrosse has begun out West, but as a result, has deep and far-reaching effects.

And let us not forget our constant and true West, for she provides those faithful women who, not having the benefit of growing up with a stick in their hands, catch a glimpse of the vision, and desire its progress just as fervently. They are just as dedicated as their eastern counterparts.

Between these two types of players and their backgrounds, we can start to understand the make-up of the San Diego team, which characterizes many other teams out West. These west-coast post-collegiate women's lacrosse clubs and teams are key in the promotion and maintenance of western lacrosse. They are compiled of players who continue their own skills, while at the same time promote further development in their varying communities. Many of the women I refer to are professionals within their given career fields, they have busy personal lives and schedules, yet they add to their repertoires the title of Head Coach, Assistant Coach, Team Mom, heads and assistants of committees, Officials, Board of Directors, and … you get the point. They run leagues, clinics, and tournaments, dedicating their time on and off the field. They are the leaders who have played and passed it on, quite often at their own expense in many ways, without reward or recognition. The women on the San Diego Club team have been crucial to the development and survival of high school girl's lacrosse, officiating, and keeping the club running not only in San Diego, but throughout all of California. They stand with many others along the coast as unknowns, keeping their dreams, and dreams of future generations perhaps not yet conceived, alive.

I tell you this in a feeble attempt to convey the dedication of West. She does all this without foundation of her own, without a set structure, as she learns and builds upon her limited resources. She is constantly fighting a battle against the odds, and winning. I wish no discredit to East, for she truly has become quite the Lacrosse Legend of her era. She, however, has more of a foundation and structure from which to feed. She has decades of development hanging over her, myriads of players and their progeny to pick from as she sustains programs already in place. Her sister, West, has been built from dreams, ever hopeful that the sizable gap of competition between her and East will decrease as she matures with time and experience. As West becomes sturdy and established, she inspires anyone who dares to dream. She is catching up, and one day, the sun will rise in the East, but it will not set for our beloved West.