Peabody senior Jordyn Collins was facing some uncertainties after her junior season of lacrosse was canceled last spring, but after some hard work over the summer those concerns were put to rest as Collins has committed to play at Worcester State University following graduation.
“I really liked the area around the school when I visited, the campus is beautiful,” said Collins. “They also have a great nursing program and a competitive lacrosse program, so it has everything I was looking for.”
The recruiting process was a bit tough for Collins, who had initially planned to get most of her college recruiting film put together during her junior year. When that season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Collins had to take a slightly different approach.
“I was really upset because we had a lot of players coming back (in 2020) and we knew we were going to have a really good team,” said Collins. “Aside from not having any film because we weren’t able to play, it was really just hard to not be able to take the field with my teammates.”
She ended up playing summer lacrosse with HGR Lacrosse, playing in a number of tournaments over the course of the year. College coaches were allowed to come and watch Collins play during those tournaments, and she says the exposure helped her get recruited, among other benefits.
“I think playing lacrosse with HGR really helped me in a few ways,” said Collins. “Coaches were able to come watch and talk to me, and I was also exposed to a lot of different teams and great players all summer long. It helped make me a better player.”
Collins also plays two other sports for the Tanners, having just wrapped up her final season of high school soccer in the fall.
“It was a little strange at first because of the masks and all the rule changes,” Collins said of the soccer season. “After playing soccer my whole life, it was tough to adjust at first. But eventually the team was able to work things out and we had a solid finish to the year.”
With her senior season of indoor track pushed back to the “Fall Sports II” season, Collins has had time to play some winter lacrosse — recently wrapping up the first session of the winter with her team in Peabody. She’s also hoping that she can play in a second winter session in Topsfield in the coming weeks.
Other than that, the plan for Collins is to continue to work hard so she can finish off her high school lacrosse career on a high note this spring.
“The main goal is to work on agility, speed and stick work,” said Collins. “I just want to be the best player I can be going into the spring.”
