Independence Girls Lacrosse is back for another exciting season for the 2022-2023 school year. The girls lacrosse team never fails to leave it all on the field, moving swiftly and smartly to make the best play possible. This was demonstrated in their win against Loudoun Valley (10-0) on March 21. The Tigers all seem to have a special connection on and off the field. This, of course, stems from the hard work and dedication they constantly put into their sport. But, it is undeniable that the team’s special connection also comes from the multiple family/sister pairs on the team. Interviews with twins Sydney and Kara Krause (juniors), sisters Scarlett Thompson (senior) and Tilly Thompson (freshman), sisters Savannah Moore (senior) and Mary Moore (sophomore), and finally cousins Peyton Oates (junior) and Aria Webster (sophomore) will give more insight to the “Family Ties” on the Indy Girls Lacrosse team.

Question: What is it like playing with a family member on your team? Any challenges or advantages?

Kara Krause: “I honestly like having a sibling on the team because I am able to practice with her at home and we are able to really trust each other on the field. Though, we do get really competitive with each other.”

Scarlett Thompson:  “Overall, it is great. There are definitely some advantages like being able to spend more time with her, riding together to and from practice and overall just being able to make more memories with her over my senior year. With advantages though, there sometimes are some challenges. Sometimes we argue because we spend so much time together, but in the end, I wouldn’t want anything to be different.”

Tilly Thompson: “Playing with my sister is super fun and convenient. It is very easy for us to get to practices and games since we can just go together. We play the same position. It is very helpful to be able to vent and talk about things the field players wouldn’t understand. Since we are together so much during the season we tend to argue more often than we do when we aren’t in season, but at the same time we get extremely close.”

Mary Moore: “Playing with a family member is one of the best feelings because we carry the strong bond we have off the field into the field. Since I’m with her 24/7, I mostly know everything she thinks and what her next actions will be, so this helps us out a lot with playing together. I know when and where she will be on the field and what dodges she will be doing. We also help eachother out a lot with the mental game of lacrosse like if one of us gets in our heads when we’re losing or having a tough game. Some challenges are not bringing the outside bickering into lacrosse but for the most part we do a good job of it.”

Aria Webster: “It’s super fun. I love having her on my team because it makes the game more important. I’m not only playing for my team, I’m playing for my family. She makes it so fun to be on the field and it’s overall an amazing experience to have family by my side throughout the season.”

Question: Were you excited to play on a team with your younger/older sister?

Scarlett Thompson:“Yes. I was very excited to play on a team with her. This was the first year I was able to have her on my team and so it is just a great experience to be able to have. We are very similar and get along very well and so it’s always great to have someone so close with you on a team.”

Tilly Thompson:“I was super excited to play with my older sister since I had watched her play throughout our childhood but we had never played together.”

Mary Moore: “I was extremely excited to play with my older sister this past year because I’ve always looked up to her and I was looking forward to all of the things she could teach me.”

Question: Being twins, did you guys always play lacrosse together growing up? Or did you guys do other sports in between?

Kara Krause: “Me and (Sydney) did competitive gymnastics for about eight years. Then around 4th/5th grade we tried out lacrosse and grew to love it. We eventually stopped doing gymnastics in 8th grade to focus on lacrosse.”

Question: Did you guys grow up playing lacrosse together at all? Or, have there been other times when you were on the same team?

Scarlett Thompson: “We were never on the same team, but we definitely have done some clinics and training together. We have been going to the same coach growing up and have been able to experience a lot of different people helping us out.”

Tilly Thompson: “We had never been on the same lacrosse team because of our age gap. The only time we would play together is if we had training. The first time we played on the same team was for field hockey.”

Mary Moore: “We’ve grown up both playing lacrosse but we’ve never been on the same team before.”

Aria Webster: “We played on the same travel team when we were younger for a little bit as well as a reck team. I remember it always being really fun and getting to see her was awesome. Especially family dinner after a practice (Fuddruckers).”

Question: Do a lot of people in your family play lacrosse? How did you get into the sport?

Kara Krause: “No one from our family plays lacrosse. We got into the sport from our friend and we loved it after we tried it out.”

Scarlett Thompson: “Three people in my family play lacrosse, which out of five daughters, is a good amount of us. I got into the sport because of my older sister. When we moved to Virginia, my dad thought that it would be a great way for us to get to know more people. I loved doing what she did when I was younger and so, of course, I decided to play as well. My dad even started us off both with boys sticks which is not what you are supposed to play with haha. We learned that very quickly in the first practice.”

Tilly Thompson: “The only people that play lacrosse in my family are me and my two older sisters. I got into lacrosse because both my older sisters started to play so my dad signed me up and I ended up continuing on with it.”

Mary Moore: “And no one else in our family has played lacrosse, we started playing it because my mom signed us up at a very young age because she wanted us to experience what being an athlete is like.”

Aria Webster: “No, I believe only three of us play competitively, and soon to be four as my little brother will hopefully take on the sport. My older cousin Alex (her brother) was a goalie and was mostly the reason lacrosse stood out to my family. Also, Peyton, Alex and I would pass in the backyard at their house when we were little and that led to the spark in me to begin playing.”

“Can’t wait to take on the season with my family by my side and a built-in best friend.”