Redshirt junior goalkeeper Berkeley Bonneau and junior attacker Emily Glagolev have each assumed a leadership role within the ASU women's lacrosse team.
Bonneau has been on the team since 2018, making her one of the program's more experienced players.
“I think it’s amazing how much experience she has between the pipes," assistant coach Dorrien Van Dyke said. "She’s been playing for this program for a long time, she was solid for us in our games last year and has been solid through this fall. I think the team trusts her back there, she definitely does some crazy stuff sometimes but that’s why we love her.”
As a goalkeeper, Bonneau can see the whole field, which has allowed her to act as "the voice of the defensive," she said.
"I can see the whole field from a different perspective," Bonneau said. "Having that knowledge allows me to provide guidance and leadership because they know that I see what they can’t and that allows people to trust me and help our team just be better overall.”
But, her leadership isn't limited to the field.
Bonneau created video competitions for the team to participate in throughout last spring, just before the 2020 season was canceled just eight games in. She encouraged her teammates to send workout routines and held yoga zoom classes for the team to join.
“I created a video of everyone imitating the coaches and the rest of our staff and bringing back laughter,” she said. “I feel like, from a leadership standpoint, encouraging people to want to do that and making that seem cool helps everyone stay connected.”
Bonneau leads the team with her voice and high energy, always making time to get to know her teammates.
“She’s a very passionate leader, one of Berkeley’s biggest attributes is the energy she brings to the team, she gets everyone pumped up and ready to play,” Van Dyke said.
On the other hand, Glagolev is a quiet and more reserved leader. She tends to lead by example by living out the team’s core values.
“Especially being an upperclassman, if (teammates) see me doing extra work or even simple things like trying to get to bed early ... hopefully they will see that and want to do the same,” Glagolev said. “For me, leading by example is something that I definitely have bought into over the past couple of years.”
Glagolev sets out to do every drill in practice correctly and takes the freshmen under her wing by teaching them the ropes of the team’s offensive unit.
“She’s the quieter captain, more so leading by example," assistant coach Nicole Graziano said. "Her voice does hold more weight when she does speak up.”
Although the coaching staff has not chosen their captains for the upcoming season, that does not change Bonneau’s and Glagolev’s views toward their leadership roles.
“The title of captain isn’t so heavily weighed in our program," Van Dyke said. "Something we agree on as a staff is, you can lead without the title of captain. We have a team of 50 girls and two captains, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have 50 leaders.”
Both assistant coaches said Bonneau and Glagolev put the team first, and that has translated into their strong leadership roles for ASU.
“They continue to live out our core values, one of them being to put we over me," Graziano said. "That means, any given decision, you have you put the team first."
Reach the reporter at mmthacke@asu.edu and follow @Mthacker_14 on Twitter.
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