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KSU lacrosse star seeks more opportunity after fifth year return
Credit: Kennesaw State Owls/MGN

KSU lacrosse star seeks more opportunity after fifth year return

KENNESAW, Ga. — Most people tend to wake up between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., but Emily Napierala is not most people. Napierala, a senior standout Kennesaw State University lacrosse player, starts her day waking up by 5 a.m. to leave her house in Lawrenceville by 5:45 a.m. to head to Kennesaw for early morning lacrosse workouts at 7 a.m.

Lawrenceville to Kennesaw is a mere hour drive, not including traffic.

Not to mention, if there is COVID testing, then, she said “I have to leave by 5 a.m.,” in order to make sure every player is negative and begin practice, on time, at 7 a.m.

Besides making sacrifices on the field and academically, Napierala also manages her time working at Emory Healthcare’s Physical Therapy clinic, where she works 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the week, making the trek to Atlanta right after morning workouts on campus or in-person classes, dependent on the days.

Napierala, who actually graduated with a degree in Exercise Science in spring 2020, made the tough decision to come back to KSU in fall 2020 to begin graduate school in Integrative Studies, after having her senior season cut short by COVID-19 back in March 2020.

“I didn’t think that I physically had it in me to do another year because I have a really bad back and I’ve been battling that really since high school,” said Napierala on her decision to return. “Between my parents, my dad really didn’t want me to keep playing and my mom was like, ‘well, you love it, I feel like you’ll always wonder.’  So I kind of have the angel and the devil on my shoulders, so it was a really hard decision.”

But, Napierala came back for her final season in spring 2021.

While having the amazing opportunity to not just play the sport she has known and loved since she was 12, but also, to focus on herself and not let have other stressors interrupt her.

“I think it just kind of goes with mental health, I used to be so worried all the time about failing, my future and really what I was going to do [for career]. And now I’m just kind of exploring all my options and making money, while I can, and playing lacrosse while I can,” said Napierala on her future.

“My plan, for once I graduate (the second time), is to just continue to explore different healthcare fields. I really like radiation therapy and working with cancer patients or I might go to nursing school, because that’s what I initially was as an undergrad, but had to change because of lacrosse.”

This year and a half has been exponentially different than years prior with COVID. To add in more perspective for the KSU lacrosse team, the older, more experienced girls, like Emily, back in fall 2020 started doing practices with the younger, freshmen girls.

One KSU freshman lacrosse player, Molly May, pointed out that Napierala was able to bring her out of her shell, and constantly checks in to see how she is doing. For freshmen especially, in a strange time with the pandemic still making day-to-day difficult in their first year in college and managing being a student athlete is no easy task, but, having a person, like Emily, that wants to see the younger girls step up and succeed, makes all the difference in everything, on-the-field and off-the-field, toward success.

“As a freshman, it’s nice to look up to [someone like Emily] because we want to just be as positive as her and bring that energy that she’s bringing,” May said. “ Like, if she wasn’t here, if she didn’t take her fifth year, I feel like it’d be different because she’s that solid glue of positivity, and leadership, that we need to experience, too.”

From her freshman year until now at KSU, Napierala has continued to grow and be there for her team.  Head coach Laura Maness, who has seen her improve and become a leader for the younger girls, is most proud and amazed to see her come into this role with such poise.

“Now she’s kind of like the backbone[for the team], and I think she’s improved a lot of the transition play[since her freshman year],” Maness said. “But, for her first season with KSU, maybe she wasn’t the person that we would go to for a transition to help clear a ball and I think that as she’s understood the systems that we’re trying to do, and, how to breed defenses, her lacrosse IQ from freshman year up to now has increased tremendously.”

With any person coming into a new place to maintain a sense of purpose, especially for an athlete, making the transition from high school to college is not easy. For Emily, she wanted to be there for the new girls coming in and give them the same feeling she had when she first stepped on the field at Fifth Third Bank stadium and let them know she was there.

“We were worried about filling that role, if she did leave, but it’s nice to have her back,” said Maness on how Napierala staying was a huge gain. “Helping to mentor some of the younger girls, so that they can see what they need to be doing on the field.”

Sacrifices to play the sport she loves is what continues to keep Napierala going, from waking up early in the mornings, driving from Lawrenceville to Kennesaw and to Atlanta all in a day, seems insanely tiring, but for Emily, it’s all about the little moments that make all the difference.

“I’m really happy, I just feel sometimes, I’ll just be driving to work from practice and I think I’m just so thankful that I really have this kind of opportunity.”

This is an unedited user writing submission. The views, information, or opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Best Version Media or its employees.

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