Rockville, Ellington girls lacrosse teams give back to community

May 20—VERNON — When the high school girls lacrosse schedules are released each year, one game in particular stands out for both the Rockville and Ellington High teams.

It's a game that has the same special feeling of senior day, combined with the excitement of a championship game.

That game sees the Rams and the Knights meet in their annual food drive game to benefit the Hockanum Valley Community Council's food pantry in Vernon.

"It's one that we talk about at the beginning of the season and we're very excited for," Rockville senior attacker Sarah Garceau said. "For almost the whole season, we're getting ready for it."

This year's game took place Tuesday night at Rockville High and saw the teams collect and donate a total of 402 pounds of food to HVCC.

"It's awesome," Ellington senior goalie Ali Kozik said. "I'm proud of our teams that we pulled through and did that and that we were able to give back."

HVCC's food pantry served over 1,600 people in Vernon, Ellington and Tolland weekly in 2021, per the organization. The pantry distributed over 750 tons of food in 2021, which is the equivalent of over 1.2 million meals total in the year or 345 meals per day to those in need.

"I think it's fantastic," HVCC case manager Eric Osterday said of the game. "Especially at this age where it's pre-launch into being a responsible individual in the community, where you're still under the protective comfort of being at home or whatever that might be. This is definitely training for being an active community member moving forward."

The idea for the game dates back to before the 2018 season.

"We just wanted to give back to the community," Rockville coach Sarah Roos said. "We sought out Ellington to see if they wanted to participate. Hockanum Valley food pantry supports Vernon, Ellington and Tolland, so we thought that would be a nice place to give back to."

Ellington coach Bill Kozik, who was an assistant at the time, recalls that the Knights were eager to join in.

"We came here our first time and kind of didn't know what to expect," he said. "I think we had the same kind of turnout with food in terms of poundage."

Since then, the teams have held the game each year except 2020, which saw the season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The game is usually held in May — once the weather warms up — at Rockville High. But Ellington has stepped in and hosted when needed, including last year when the lone meeting between the teams was at Ellington High.

"They've been great with everything," Roos said of Ellington's participation. "Just organizing it, setting it up, being willing to be participants in it and helping out."

Each year, Roos has her players take the lead in setting the event up, including having one of them make the initial call to HVCC.

Then the Rams get together and make posters and place them around the school.

"We ask our teachers and our classmates to donate and we set up bins all around our school," Rockville senior attacker Olivia Crowley said. "We try to publicize it as much as possible to collect the donations."

The process for the Knights is very similar.

"We collect stuff at school," Bill Kozik said. "Then parents go out and raid Big Y and some of the other grocery stores in the area to help fill the needed areas."

Prior to the game, both teams bring all the donations they've collected, as well as any additional donations brought to the game, together and take a group picture before helping load the donations into a HVCC vehicle.

Then the teams play the game, a 15-0 Ellington victory this year. But each player knows the final score isn't what matters at the end of the day.

"It's more about the bigger picture," Crowley said. "Like yes, we're playing lacrosse. But we're also trying to help our community."

Putting the competitiveness aside makes the game that much more special.

"It's a great honor," Ali Kozik said. "I think it's awesome that we get to team up with Rockville. We've done this for a couple years now and it's great to be a part of it."

While the players know that their collection efforts benefit others in the community, it also has a positive impact on their own futures as well.

"It helps me realize that helping others is important and it's not just all about me," Garceau said. "Doing things like this is going to help me be a better person for the future and give back."

When asked what the most gratifying aspect of the game is, Roos said: "I think just seeing the girls giving back to the community, and just being excited about giving back to the community."

Bill Kozik echoed Roos' sentiments.

"The fact that they love giving back to the community makes me feel overwhelmed," Kozik said. "It makes me feel that the future is bright and there's kids like this that are going to be out there as adults. If they're willing to do it in high school, they're going to be willing to do it as an adult."

Roos said she plans on continuing the game for many years to come.

"I think it brings the communities together," she said. "It's not just two separate programs playing against each other. It's two programs working together for a greater cause to give back to the community."

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