Athlete of the Week Emma Webb misses out on her time to shine

Senior student athletes everywhere have been disappointed to lose their senior sports seasons, maybe none more than Oak Ridge's Emma Webb. The senior at Oak Ridge and goalie on the Oak Ridge varsity girls' lacrosse team has served as a backup to Ashley Laing the last two seasons. This was finally her year to showcase her skills in goal and it was all taken away after just three games because of the coronavirus pandemic. "If there's one player I feel tremendously bad for it is Emma," Oak Ridge lacrosse coach Nathan Hendel said. "She's been our backup for two years and it was finally her time. For her to become one of the top goalies in our conference and in all of Northern California is a testament to her. She stuck with it, remained ready for her opportunity, and she played great in our first three games. "Emma does a good job getting her body behind the ball, works to be in good position and has a good clear rate. She's a darn good goalie and would have been the starter on most teams the last two seasons. On top of all that, she's an exceptional student." Folsom Telegraph: What are your hopes/plans for after graduation? EW: I will be attending George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, next year where I will be playing lacrosse, and majoring in Biology. FT: What are your thoughts on your scholarship from George Fox University? EW: I am very grateful for my academic scholarship from George Fox. Receiving a scholarship after all of my hard work throughout high school makes it all worth it. FT: Do sports run in your family? EW: My dad ran track and cross country in high school, and my mom did gymnastics and swam in high school. My younger brother currently plays baseball, and will be playing at Oak Ridge next year as a freshman. FT: How long have you been playing lacrosse and how did you get your start in it? EW: I have been playing lacrosse since I was in fifth grade when I heard about it from friends at school. FT: Have you ever been involved in other sports? EW: I have played soccer, tennis, swim, gymnastics, and volleyball before I started playing lacrosse. After my first year of playing, I decided to focus solely on playing lacrosse because I loved it so much. FT: What do you like about lacrosse? EW: The things I love most about lacrosse are how unique the sport is, the competitive environment, the high speed of the game, and how I can learn something new from it every day. FT: How did you become a goalie? EW: I started out playing all the field positions, except for goalie in the first few years. Even though I played goalie before in soccer, I did not play goalie in lacrosse my first two years because I was afraid of the speed of the shots and the hard ball. When I was in seventh grade, my team did not have a goalie, so my coach asked me if I wanted to step in, and I decided to try it out. After trying it out I fell in love with it. I haven't played any other position since. FT: What's it like to be a lacrosse goalie? EW: Being a lacrosse goalie at first is a little scary being in front of high-speed shots with what seems like little padding, but over time you get used to the speed of the shots and can really hone in on all the little details that go into the position. There is a lot of focus on quick reaction time, big stepping, and arm movement. Goalie also takes a strong lacrosse IQ to understand the whole of the field, anticipating plays of the opponents offense, directing the defense, and thinking ahead to what you should be doing with the ball after you stop it, and then executing on the clears. FT: What are your thoughts on the season being cancelled? EW: To have my senior season get cancelled was heartbreaking, but I know that it was cancelled for a much greater good. I feel that the Oak Ridge lacrosse program was going to be very strong this year, even after only getting to play three games. I feel lucky to get the opportunity to play four more years in college. FT: You've been the back-up keeper at Oak Ridge a couple years and it was finally your turn to start. How disappointed are you to lose this season? EW: I am very disappointed to lose this season after working to get to the point that I am now skills wise, but I am grateful to have been able to learn from a great goalie, Ashley Laing, and develop my skills alongside her during those couple seasons. FT: Were you frustrated to be a backup for two straight seasons? How did you stay motivated? EW: I was never frustrated to be a backup for the two seasons. The starter goalie for those seasons, Ashley Laing, and I had a close relationship being that we were both goalies, and were very supportive of each other all the time. I grew a lot both mentally and in my skills learning from her, and I am grateful for that. FT: What are your thoughts on this year's team? How do you think it would have done? EW: I think that this year our program was going to be very strong. Our team was really clicking early in the season, we had lots of talent, and I think we would have gone far. We all met early in the season and talked about what our personal and team goals were for the season, and we set high standards for our team that we were well on our way to achieving. FT: How is distance learning going? EW: Distance learning is proving to be difficult with all of our work being online learning from Google Classroom and an online program. All of my teachers are making an amazing effort adjusting to the new platforms, and I feel lucky to have such hard-working teachers. FT: What do you miss about school? EW: I miss being able to see all of my friends each day. I think that I never really realized that could be taken away so quickly, and I appreciate them all even more now because of it. FT: What is your favorite class/subject in school? EW: My favorite class this year is AP Biology, and my favorite subject in school has always been science. FT: Favorite music? EW: Country and hip hop are my favorite types of music. FT: Favorite Food? EW: My favorite food is watermelon. FT: Do you have any pets? Tell us about them. EW: My family has two orange tabby cats who are brothers, named Chappy and Larry. Chappy is named after Matt Chapman on the A's because my family is a huge fan of the team. FT: Do you have any hobbies? What do you like to do in your free time? EW: I love photography (mostly of sports), and I also love to go throw around at the field with friends. FT: What inspires you in sports? EW: The motivation to always be improving, and to achieve the goals my coaches and I set for myself. There is always something I can be working to improve upon, and that's something that is so special about playing sports. FT: Is there a particular job or profession you'd like to have after college? EW: It is my goal to go to dental school, and become a dentist or dental hygienist.