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Women's Lacrosse

DeWaters sisters thrive in final season together

Head Coach, Emily, in her first season as head coach has the privelige of coaching her youngest sister, Audrey, in her final year of athletic ability.

Being teammates with your sister? Pretty cool. Playing for your sister in her first ever year as a head coach? Even cooler. 

For the last two seasons, Emily (DeWaters) DiRado has served as the assistant women's lacrosse coach helping mentor her little sister, Audrey DeWaters. Audrey, a fifth year senior currently on the team, gets to enjoy her final year of collegiate athletics playing for Emily. Emily was promoted to the head coaching role last July, and the two have found a terrific balance and navigated challenges between coach and sister.

The DeWaters family connection to Albion began in the Fall of 2012 when Emily stepped on campus as a freshman. Emily came to Albion as a basketball recruit with zero lacrosse experience. All her friends, teammates and sorority sisters had lacrosse experience, but being at Albion was Emily's first exposure to the game.

"I always thought it was such an interesting game and I was trying to figure it out from afar," recalled Emily. 

After injuries sidelined her late in her career, head women's basketball coach Doreen Carden gave her a more significant role on the team for her senior season where her love of coaching flourished. 

"The opportunity Doreen gave me as a manager and student coach my senior year meant a lot," said Emily. "I knew that sports and coaching and mentorship in general were a piece of me and what I wanted to do forever."

Following graduation in 2016, Emily received a call from then-athletic director Matt Arend, explaining the women's lacrosse program needed an assistant coach and he, along with many others, wanted her to return to Albion. Already working on her Master's in Sport Administration, Emily didn't think twice about returning to her alma mater. 

"This is home. I love the people and opportunities Albion gave me so I had to give back," said Emily.

Despite no lacrosse experience – coaching or playing – the game came naturally to Emily. With defenses that mirror basketball and a structure similar to a background she has in soccer, the transition to lacrosse wasn't impossible by any means. 

"The game honestly came pretty naturally to me in terms of strategy," said Emily. "I would read the rule book forwards and backwards and would pride myself on knowing the rules better than most, even people who have been in the game longer."

Since 2016, Emily has remained on staff with the Britons and assumed her head coaching role last summer. When she came to Albion in 2012, being involved in the lacrosse program was already something that never crossed her mind. But to eventually coach her little sister – also with no experience – was something ridiculously out of the cards. 

Audrey spent the first two seasons of her college career playing basketball at Kellogg Community College. When looking to transfer, she had the fullest of intentions to continue playing. She looked at other schools in the league before deciding on Albion – the place that has felt like home for so long.

"I grew up an Albion fan first and I've been around this place since I was 11 years old. Albion is so familiar and has always felt like home," said Audrey. "I've always looked up to Em and wanted to be like her. Watching her play basketball, being so involved here, it was comforting and I thought I could do something similar if I transferred here."

With transferring to a school your big sister has been at since 2012 came with one lingering question – "Are you going to play lacrosse?"

For the first few weeks of Audrey's arrival, Emily and then-head coach Laurie Merian kept joking with Audrey to come play lacrosse. The balancing act between coach and sister then began before Audrey was on the roster. Knowing her sister just transferred in and committed to playing basketball, the last thing she wanted to do was to add to Audrey's plate.

"I didn't want to put too much pressure on her joining," said Emily. "I knew at some point her interest would peak and she'd really just want to give it a go."

Playing catch with Emily, wall ball with some of her basketball-lacrosse teammates and hearing the endless inquiries from staff and students on campus, the time finally came for Audrey to come to a lacrosse practice.

"I was nervous about it being a lot of hard work. After basketball was over I would have to do a lot of stuff to catch up with the rest of the team," expressed Audrey. 

While Audrey had no lacrosse experience whatsoever, there was one person she could immediately look up to that also excelled in lacrosse with no prior experience – her big sister. 

"When the opportunity arose and Emily told me to come to practice, I was excited about getting into something new," said Audrey. "Em never played lacrosse and didn't know anything about it when she first got involved. I knew if she could pick it up and learn and read about it, I could too."

Emily credits a lot of successful athletes that came before Audrey as well that were dual sport athletes. A lot of basketball translates to lacrosse, especially defensively, and other items such as teamwork, common goals and more. With Audrey picking up a stick and joining the program, Emily knew her little sister would blossom into a terrific player and teammate. 

"She's one of the most competitive people I know," said Emily. "I knew she wasn't going to do this for one semester and then not."

It took just one practice with the lacrosse team for Audrey to be convinced this is where she belonged. 

"The energy was amazing and I already felt like this was something I needed to be a part of," recalled Audrey. "I've always been part of amazing teams and cultures, but nothing like this. The team was so welcoming and preached legacy and took pride in those who came before them."

A naturally gifted athlete, those first few weeks in lacrosse didn't come the easiest to Audrey. Only playing basketball all her life, the initial days of practice were some of the hardest here for her.

"I used to be really hard on myself and cry and think what I was doing wasn't worth it," remembered Audrey. 

Enter Coach Emily.

"It was all about building her confidence," said Emily. "I knew she had the tools and skills, but I needed her to know she wasn't behind and that she could have an impact on the team."

"It was really cool seeing myself grow in ways I never thought I could," expressed Audrey. "I learned to appreciate the energies of other sports and I got to learn so much about my new teammates."

That impact Emily discussed was immediate with Audrey earning First Team All-MIAA accolades in 2022. Audrey was part of a squad that won the MIAA Regular Season title thanks to her as a key part of the defense.

"If anyone was capable, it was her," said Emily, boasting with pride. "I wanted her athleticism and leadership to shine early. This wasn't a wait til next year type thing. It was right then and there."

When Audrey transferred in, she had three years of school remaining and three of athletic eligibility thanks to the COVID year. Always thinking she'd be a basketball player, her decision changed as the time got closer to her fifth and final season. 

"My last year of ever being able to put this body into use I wanted to focus on just one sport," said Audrey. "It was a no-brainer to stick with lacrosse."

After Merian resigned last May, the suspicion was always that Emily would get promoted to the head coaching position. Now with the potential to become head coach, Audrey and Emily had to navigate how their relationship would change – if at all – when the job became Emily's.

"She already excelled this much and was successful jumping into her previous role that I knew she'd be a perfect fit for the team," said Audrey.

Emily sports a go-getter mentality and leaves nothing to be done less than one hundred percent. Her peers in the department recognized that and promoted her to head coach, seeing the effect she had on the women's lacrosse program over the last seven seasons. 

"When I first came in as an assistant, I knew I was going to give it my all and dive head first into it and I think a lot of coaches here respected that," said Emily. "Fast forward to when Audrey joined in 2022, having your sister on the team and having her be able to respect you as a coach was not only huge for Albion, but for Audrey's peers."

When players are given instruction, the response in the women's lacrosse program is to say "Yes Coach." Having to separate sister from coach for the first time in her life, Audrey didn't immediately take to that expression.

"In the beginning, I would giggle and snicker everytime I had to say it, but now it's second nature," said Audrey. "It took a long time to disassociate Em as my sister at practice and we had to work through when it was sister Em and coach Em and make that a safe, respectable space for everyone else."

Audrey soon learned the respect that would give Emily from not only her, but her teammates. Audrey diligently worked to make it a habit, as she never wanted to disrespect her sister.

"Someone needs to tell her not to 'Yes Coach' me at home," joked Emily, 

Emily prides herself on being a big sister – a role she's held her whole life. In addition to Audrey, Emily plays the role of big sister for her younger sister, Anna, as well. The big sister classification translates over to coaching, another tool that Emily has in her arsenal of coaching techniques. 

"I've been a big sister my whole life. That's who I am and how I categorize myself," said Emily. "A lot of my philosophy is based on that. I am the tough love and honest one and I've been that to people in general, not just my sisters. When Audrey got here it was second nature to me. Every player I coach is someone's sister or daughter."

All those discussions at home have paid dividends, as Emily has become more confident in how she's going to coach with Audrey on the team in her first year at the helm of the program.

"There's a lot of times that as a coach, you have to think about what your players want to hear and how they want to hear it, but it being your sister is a whole different layer to that," said Emily. "Unfortunately and fortunately she gets a more authentic version of myself. We think alike and there's a lot I don't have to say to her and for her, but I do for everyone else because I think a lot of times as a mentor and coach, the general impact of what people need to hear from you and when is important."

The two knew going into Audrey's final season as a player and Emily's first as a head coach, if they 'could do it together, it would be pretty cool.'

"If you preach legacy in a team, there's no closer feeling than doing it with your family. I know I'm very blessed in that upbringing," said Emily. "That's what sport does. I get to coach a sport my husband grew up playing, now I've gotten to coach my little sister for three years."

"There's nothing else like playing for your big sister," said Audrey.

The two hope to extend their time on the field together beyond this weekend. Albion's playoff chances are still very much alive, as the Brits will need a win coupled with some helpful results around the league.
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Players Mentioned

Audrey DeWaters

#23 Audrey DeWaters

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Junior

Players Mentioned

Audrey DeWaters

#23 Audrey DeWaters

Junior
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