Meet 11-year-old JR Wings Goalie, Emily Giaquinto - Philadelphia Wings Lacrosse
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Meet 11-year-old JR Wings Goalie, Emily Giaquinto

“I don’t really think about it, I just love playing lacrosse,” stated 11-year-old Junior Wings goalie, Emily Giaquinto, the only girl on the Philadelphia Wings’ youth box lacrosse team.

 

Emily has been playing lacrosse for seven years now, ever since her brother introduced her to the sport. Emily’s dad, Carl Giaquinto, owns a rink in Morristown, N.J., exposing her to the sport for quite some time now. “A few years ago the house box lacrosse league needed a goalie, and my son Max used to play goalie, so she just started playing and using his old gear” said Carl. According to Carl, Emily was planning on coming to the tryout to support her brother. But after finding out there was only one other goalie at tryouts, she decided to try and join the team herself. “She’s really calm in goal but has a competitive edge to her,” he says. “ I think she will stick with it, at some point I think she might stop playing with the guys, but she really loves the game.”

“I’m really excited to go to Canada and play against all the other Junior NLL teams,” said Emily. What does she most look forward to at the Junior NLL championship in Ontario, Canada? She responds, “Winning!” of course.

Emily isn’t just a box lacrosse goalie, she also plays as a roller hockey goalie and plays the field in both outdoor lacrosse and field hockey. She says Kevin Crowley is her favorite men’s lacrosse player, Former Rutgers standout T.T. Naslonski is her favorite women’s lacrosse player, and her mom is her biggest inspiration, “because she can do anything she wants”.

Even though Emily is coached by a variety of Wings stars, she doesn’t have a favorite coach at the Jr. Wings. The staff includes Philadelphia Wings stars Ben McIntosh, Matt Rambo, Blaze Riorden, and more. “There hasn’t been one I’ve liked working with most,  it’s just really cool getting to learn from professional players”.

Emily and the Jr. Wings will travel to Ontario, Canada to represent Philadelphia at the Junior NLL tournament and compete on an international stage from August 26th-28th against the top competition from the US and Canada.

 

Emily’s best advice to other aspiring women in sport is, “Just do it. Just play. If you love it there’s no reason not to.” Best of luck to Emily and the rest of the Jr. Wings in Canada!

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