The English Patience: Hard Work Pays Off As Cornell Alum Makes England National Lacrosse Team

Ashleigh Smith found herself living with and looking after 13-year-olds in Banbury, England.

Thirty-five of them, to be exact.

Smith, a 2008 Cornell graduate, never saw running a lacrosse program across the Atlantic Ocean as a career option.

“Initially, I thought I'd be in the country for about nine months, spend a bit of time traveling and head back home to start PA school,” Smith said. “Four years later, my plans have totally changed.”

The Maryland native, who played defense on the women's lacrosse team, probably wasn't expecting the news she got two weeks ago, either.

Smith – not a drop of British blood in her body – would be playing lacrosse for the England National Team.

Barely removed from suiting up for the Big Red in Schoellkopf Field, she'll be wearing the white and red of England in January for the 2012 Champion Challenge in Florida. A simple e-mail naming her to the team arrived in her inbox last week.

Not bad for a girl who thought, after moving on to coaching, she would never play lacrosse at a high level again.

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Smith (right) plays in a game against Notre Dame during her Cornell career.

Smith spent five years in Ithaca, playing on the lacrosse team in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008. She missed the 2005 season with an illness, but that didn't stop her from racking up 57 games, three goals and one assist in her career. She sits 10th all-time in Cornell history for caused turnovers (48).

“Ashleigh was a very dedicated and skilled defender for the Big Red,” said Cornell head coach Jenny Graap. “Her career at Cornell, though different from most Ivy League athletes in that she arranged her academics to capture a fifth year of eligibility, showed tremendous dedication and love of the sport.”

Solid numbers, to be sure. But national-team quality? That wasn't a thought in her mind.

With her career at Cornell complete, Smith was hired by the English Lacrosse Association and placed at a secondary school outside the small town of Banbury. The town sits 90 minutes northwest of London and 60 minutes southeast of Birmingham, isolated in the middle of two much larger cities.

Once there, Smith taught physical education, ran the lacrosse program and served as a housemistress for 35 girls.

“She was one of those the most humble individuals on our squad when it came to her athletic abilities,” Graap said. “She was a very considerate and caring teammate. Ashleigh was a selfless leader who was naturally inclined to be supportive and nurturing.”

At first, Smith had a difficult time adjusting to the communication differences between Americans and Brits.

“Particularly for the first week after I arrived, I couldn't understand a thing anyone said,” Smith said. “It was like speaking a different language.”

Now she uses the British spelling of words in e-mails, typing “honoured” without it crossing her mind as strange.

Four years after taking that position in Banbury, she's teaching fourth and second grade at a prep school just outside London. Smith also started a lacrosse program there and is completing grad school at Buckingham University to earn a United Kingdom teaching qualification.

Throughout her time in England, the desire to play lacrosse never left her. And it just so happened that her first mentor in Banbury, Joani Adkins, was a well-connected former player herself.

“As well as being one of the most vibrant, interesting and unique women I had ever met, [Adkins] also happens to be one of the most well-connected people I know,” Smith said. “She's one of those people who always knows someone who knows someone.”

Adkins hooked Smith up right away with Jan Guilbride, a former England National Team coach who now spent time coaching one of five England “representative teams” from across the country. Guilbride encouraged Smith to try out for her Midlands representative team, and Smith made the cut. For the last two years, Midlands has won the competitive Territorials Tournament. Smith and the rest of her Midlands team are hoping to make it three in a row in March.

They say who you know matters more than what you know, and once again connections led Smith to the next level. By playing with Midlands, she eventually found her way to working with the national team. She started as a volunteer coach at first, attending the 2011 Home Nationals Tournament against Scotland and Wales.

Then she discovered, thanks to Coach Sarah Butt, that she would be eligible to compete for England.

Rule 2.1 (d) of the Federation of International Lacrosse's Player Eligibility Criteria is the regulation that applies to Smith. While the rules first describe ways for English citizens to qualify, they go on to detail the rules for non-nationals. By living in the county for a minimum of two years – which Smith has surpassed by two already – she had all she needed to play for England.

The other barrier to playing for the England National Team was that only 15 percent (three of 18) of its players are allowed to be non-nationals.

Smith was one of those three, and she now trains with England as a player.

"It was clear from our first encounter with Ashleigh, as a coach, that she is an exemplary person who has very high standards," Butt said. "Having seen her play at territorial level we invited her to trial for the England squad and were delighted that the same commitment, passion and ability were very evident in her playing.  Ashleigh has been a great addition to the England squad and we look forward to her having a long England career."

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The big change between Cornell lacrosse and the England National Team, she discovered, was that most of the

training for the national team is done on the athletes' own time. Hailing from all around the country, lacrosse players don't have many opportunities to come together for training.

“When a majority of training is done in your own time, fitting around full-time jobs, giving up every weekend, and when the sport is completely self-funded, you need to love what you're doing,” Smith said. “I feel so lucky to be a part of a squad that is both motivating and inspiring. You work hard for the player standing next to you.”

Smith will get her chance to come back to the States for the Champion Challenge in January and February of next year. The event, which takes place at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla., will feature four matches by Smith's England team over three days. England will face the United States national team, Syracuse, Northwestern and Maryland.

More importantly for Smith, she will get to see her family, who is flying down from Maryland for the tournament. Her family will don England gear and even teach some of the British players about an American way of attending sporting events.

“I've even bought my parents some England lacrosse gear as Christmas presents so that they'll be all kitted-out on the sidelines,” Smith said. “I think my parents are really looking forward to introducing the team to a big post-game tailgate!”
And, if all goes well, there could be an even bigger international tournament featuring Smith in the near future: the 2013 World Cup. While that competition is still more than a year away, the 26-year-old is hopeful that she can make that trip to Canada when the time comes.

England, twice a runner-up, has never won the World Cup.

“There's definitely a chance and that is, without a doubt, my ultimate goal,” Smith said. “At the moment though, that seems very far away. There's months of training and hard work ahead. I'm just focusing on playing my best and enjoying the opportunity for as long as I can.”