After the Whistle: Parkside’s Avery Donoway
SALISBURY, Md. – Avery Donoway is a senior for Parkside girl’s lacrosse. In her final season with the program, she’s stepped into a leadership role to help guide the Rams’ young team.
“I think now I’m more willing to just be aggressive and take the lead, and just tell everyone else where to go so that it can benefit the team,” she said, “The seniors my freshman year, they kind of showed me what to look forward to, and how to be responsible and how to explain to [my teammates] in a smaller sense on how to do things.”
The game has slowed down for Donoway, and she uses that calm to direct Parkside’s offense and spread the wealth: “I think it’s like trying to compose everybody and just try to slow everything down. Just making sure that everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing. I think my thought is that if we spread out, then we can pass the ball around, get a few touches, and then everybody can just have an equal opportunity to try to drive to goal or score.”
After initially committing to play lacrosse at Salisbury University, Donoway decided that she wants to focus on her academics, and a career in teaching when she gets to college. So, with this season with the Rams likely her last dance, she wants to take it all in and make the most of it. “I’m playing with all my best friends, and I just enjoyed the past four years. And I think we’ve really got to just grow up together. Our team is pretty young this year, so I think it’s nice for me to, like, be able to be a leader on the team and just teach them the easy skills and just have a lot of fun,” she said.
