Here comes the pride

Women’s lacrosse team gains another Pridemore sister for the 2015 season

Playing with a sibling while on an athletic team at any level is rare, but can be a special experience during an athlete’s collegiate career.

The Vero Beach, Florida, natives, sophomore Katy Pridemore and freshman Hannah Pridemore weighed in on the benefits of sisters competing together in athletics.

Their journey together began before they even came to Liberty University. Both Pridemores originally committed to play lacrosse at the University of Florida, a highly ranked team in the NCAA. However, when they chose to de-commit from Florida and come to Liberty instead, many people believed Hannah Pridemore simply followed in the footsteps of her older sister when Hannah Pridemore was actually the first sibling to express interest in Liberty.

“I think we mainly wanted to go to the same college, and Hannah had always been interested in Liberty before I even wanted to go here,” Katy Pridemore said. “And I think that played a big part in my choice to switch schools because it was already in the back of my mind that Hannah wanted to go there. So then when I de-committed from Florida and came here to Liberty I realized this was where I was supposed to be.”

The Pridemore sisters have been playing together for the past seven years. The time has allowed the Pridemores to develop a significant amount of chemistry on the field together.

“I like playing with her because she knows what I’m going to do before I do it, we don’t even have to make eye contact,” Katy Pridemore said. “I know what I need to do to make Hannah perform at her best.”

This type of unselfish play has benefitted both sisters in their lacrosse careers. In high school, Katy Pridemore was ranked No. 2 in the country for rising recruits by Inside Lacrosse Magazine and was also named a 1st team USA Lacrosse All-American, an Under Armour Underclass All-American and ESPN’s Player of the Week. And Hannah Pridemore competed as a starting member of Vero Beach’s run to the state title in 2013.

“We do things for the other person, to make each other look better,” Hannah Pridemore said. “We complement one another.”

Since the Pridemores have grown up playing together, they not only know how to make the other person perform well, but it also makes it easier to call the other person out if they are performing poorly.

“It kind of sets a higher standard because we know how good we’ve played before so we know we can do better,” Katy Pridemore said. “We expect so much out of each other, so if Hannah isn’t playing well it’s easy for me to say, ‘Come on Hannah get your head together, I know you can do it.’”

Many siblings might cringe at the idea of being called out by their older or younger sibling in front of other people, but the Pridemores take it in stride knowing that the “tough love” is only meant to help in the long run.

“I like it when she tells me things on how to improve my game, it’s really helpful,” Hannah Pridemore said. “And I know I can always say something to Katy and correct her, which is something I could never do to another upperclassman.”

However, being sisters who are constantly under the spotlight to perform at a high level can become straining. The Pridemores are used to people comparing their skill level and talent, but they do not let that damage their relationship with one another.

“People always compare us, which is not good because we are completely opposite players,” Hannah Pridemore said. “I like making the little scrappy plays and giving the ball to Katy so she can finish the play and make the game winning goal.”

It would be easy to assume that since both sisters play the same position, things could potentially get competitive between the two. Despite the pressure of competing against one another for spots on the starting attack, they simply try to use their different skills and work around the other person to make the team better as a whole.

“If we are running our sprint tests than we are obviously going to be competitive and try to beat each other, but on the field it’s a different kind of competitiveness,” Katy Pridemore said. “We play the same position but we have different roles, so obviously we try to push each other to do our best but we have separate jobs on the field.”

During their off-season this fall, they were unable to play together on the field due to an injury suffered by Katy Pridemore. This situation allowed Katy Pridemore to experience a new perspective from the sideline where she quickly became Hannah Pridemore’s biggest fan.

“This last fall I was able to watch her out there by herself from the sideline, which was really cool because I’ve never been able to just watch and not be out there with her playing,” Katy Pridemore said. “So it was more special when she made a great play because I could watch the whole thing happen and cheer for her.”

Katy and Hannah Pridemore are looking forward to competing together as Lady Flames for the first time this upcoming 2016 spring season.

Britton is a sports reporter.