Mady Morrison, sitting on her couch beside her dad, looks the part of a sporty 16-year-old going into her second-to-last year of high school.

Hair pulled up in a messy bun, she had a box lacrosse jersey pulled on over shorts. In the corner of the living room, half a dozen lacrosse sticks leaned against the wall. An open lacrosse bag lay on the floor, and she had only recently moved her unzipped suitcase from the couch. Morrison had just come back from a Calgary box lacrosse tournament; her dad joked that they only ever take vacations for lacrosse.

He鈥檚 not far off.

鈥淢y life, pretty much since we moved here, has been lacrosse,鈥� Morrison said.

Her family moved to North Delta when she was in Grade 3. At the time she played a little bit of everything. 鈥淸But] nothing stayed other than lacrosse,鈥� she said.

Starting from the lowest levels of boys box and field lacrosse, she eventually worked her way up to playing goal for Team BC and a few American teams as well. Now, with two years of high school left, she鈥檚 made a verbal agreement with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) team at LaSalle University in Pennsylvania as a field lacrosse goalie.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e doing it because they love it and they鈥檙e doing it because it鈥檚 fun, which I am really into,鈥� Morrisson said of professional lacrosse players. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 be playing 鈥� and I wouldn鈥檛 be playing in university 鈥� if I didn鈥檛 love it. It would be a waste of time and a waste of money.鈥�

Morrison was actually one of the last players to sign on with an American college team at such a young age. In April 2017, the NCAA changed the rules so players couldn鈥檛 be recruited until they started their Grade 11 year.

鈥淚 just made it underneath the line for that,鈥� she said.

She signed in March of this year, and 鈥渋t didn鈥檛 take me very long to say yes,鈥� she said.

Morrison said she was recruited for her ability to come out of the net and act as an extra defender, which is certainly part of her appeal. Many goalies who have been trained in box lacrosse stay inside their crease. That can鈥檛 happen in field lacrosse.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot more asked of you,鈥� Blair Bradley, Morrison鈥檚 Team B.C. coach. 鈥淵ou have to basically design what they call the clear, of getting the ball out of your own end. You have to identify where the other team is pressing you, where they鈥檙e riding. You have to make the first decision and 鈥� quarterback the ball out of your own end.鈥�

Bradley said one of Morrison鈥檚 strengths is her ability to communicate with the team.

鈥淪he鈥檚 yelling out what鈥檚 going on on the field, what鈥檚 happening, what the other team鈥檚 doing,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be shy when you鈥檙e the goalie.鈥�

Morrison certainly isn鈥檛. Bradley described her as flamboyant and charismatic, but focused mostly on her eagerness to learn.

鈥淢y goal is to be a better goalie so when it comes to playing in university, I鈥檓 the best of the best,鈥� Morrison said. 鈥淲hich is a big dream, but it鈥檚 something I鈥檓 hoping to work for.鈥�

Her eagerness to learn is what spurred her to become one of the best players in B.C. in a sport that doesn鈥檛 always make it easy for women to succeed.

The Delta Lacrosse Association, where Morrison played in her early years, has not traditionally had many girls鈥� lacrosse teams. When she was in elementary school, she played on the boys teams, only moving to a girls鈥� team when she 鈥渟tayed the same size, but [the boys] were getting bigger and stronger,鈥� she said.

鈥淲hen I first started playing, it wasn鈥檛 really a problem that I was a girl,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd then I started to get older and the guys were like, 鈥楾his is a guys thing. Why are you here?鈥欌��

That mentality didn鈥檛 affect her game.

鈥淚t made me want to play even harder, to show them that, yeah I鈥檓 a girl, but I deserve to be here just as much as you do,鈥� she said.

The same boys club mentality is what prompted her decision not to return for a second year at the Delta School District鈥檚 Lacrosse Academy.

But perhaps a bigger challenge for Morrison has been a industry-wide lack of goalie coaches.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 forget about the goalies, they鈥檙e very valuable to us,鈥� Bradley said. 鈥淸But] my knowledge is fairly limited.鈥�

In her higher-level teams, she鈥檚 had non-goalie coaches like Bradley who have had to call up tutorials on YouTube to help her learn goalie-specific techniques. Recently she鈥檚 been going down to the United States once a month to take lessons from former CalTech Berkley goalie Helen Hansen.

When she was learning lacrosse as a kid, Morrison was lucky enough to have former LaSalle Univeristy goalie Savana Smith as a coach. But for the most part, coaching duties in those critical early years often fell to league parents.

That鈥檚 why Morrison has started coaching others herself.

鈥淚t鈥檚 nice being able to give back, because I never really had that opportunity when I was younger,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was always our dads coaching. It was somebody鈥檚 dad coaching, who maybe played a couple years when he was younger, but never really went anywhere with it.鈥�

For Morrison, a lacrosse player with nearly 20 medals to her name and a contract to play the highest level of women鈥檚 lacrosse available in North America, its the coaching that has been her greatest accomplishment.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to sound so cheesy, but the past couple years I鈥檝e been coaching [a tyke lacrosse team],鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had parents come up to me at the end of the season going, 鈥業t鈥檚 amazing that you鈥檙e coming out. It鈥檚 nice seeing that we have younger people coming out and helping.鈥�

鈥淛ust watching the teams that I鈥檝e been coaching kind of grow is probably a big thing.鈥�