University of Delaware Athletics
A Dream Come True – Amy Altig’s Journey to Gold and the Impact of Women’s Lacrosse
8/22/2022 1:05:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
She remembers it like it was yesterday. As she walked into her sister’s house to assist with her newborn nephew – dinner in one hand, bags in another – her phone rang. Then the associate head women’s lacrosse coach at Penn State, Amy Altig knew this was a call she needed to take.
On the other end of the phone was Jenny Levy, the head women’s lacrosse coach at North Carolina and newly appointed head coach of the U.S. women’s national team. Levy asked Altig to join the staff and work with the goalies.
“I was in complete shock that she asked me to come work alongside her,” Altig said.
Typically, in these situations, much like when a new head coach is hired at an institution, the coach reaches out to people they have extensive relationships with to join their staff. That wasn’t necessarily the case with Levy and Altig.
“Prior to this, I only worked a couple camps for her so that was the only capacity that I really knew her in,” Altig said.
Clearly, her reputation spoke for itself to have Levy reach out personally to have her join the staff.
From the very beginning, Levy knew Amy was the one she wanted on her staff. She recalled competing against Altig while she was in State College and the work Amy put in with the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association video exchange program. Altig also competed for the U.S. after college and assisted the previous coaching staff with tryouts, so she also brought some international experience to the staff.
“There was no other person but Amy for me,” Levy said.
The World Cup, which was supposed to take place in 2021, was postponed to 2022 due the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the world.
The process for the Women’s Lacrosse World Cup is much different than that of other sports. For example, the players aren’t paid. Both coaches and players are all working people who take time away from their jobs to compete. The group met four to five times a year with most of the work being done over Zoom. And for Altig, she was a bit starstruck at first.
“This was a dream team,” Altig said. “When you think back to the Olympics with the dream team in men’s basketball and its Michael Jordan, it’s Karl Malone, all of those guys. Here we have this roster of players from Charlotte North to Kayla Trainer to Emma Trenchard to Alice Mercer to Megan Douty, Liz Hogan, Caylee Waters. You can go down the list and it’s a who’s who of lacrosse talent.”
And the lacrosse community reacted the same way as the U.S. team walked around the Towson campus during the World Cup.
“We couldn’t walk anywhere without someone wanting to take a picture with the team,” Altig said. “It was like The Beatles. I’ve been to concerts, I’ve seen the fanfare, but for women’s lacrosse to be on that sort of stage – seeing the awe that these young girls had, was something that impacted me immensely.”
Even their opponents recognized the stars on the U.S. roster.
“After the game against Japan was over, a couple of the Japanese players came up to some of our players and were asking for autographs,” Altig said. “One player in particular had asked to meet Kayla Trainer. As soon as Kayla said yes, the Japanese player just started crying. These women who make up this national team are idolized across the world.”
Altig and Co. ran the gauntlet at the World Cup to become the only team in history to go 6-0 and win the event on their own soil. The group became the ninth U.S. team in 11 attempts to claim gold since the inception of the games in 1982.
During the World Cup process, which started what felt like lightyears ago, Altig left the Nittany Lions and became the seventh head women’s lacrosse coach in University of Delaware women's lacrosse program history on June 3, 2019. Since taking over the reins in Newark, Altig used her journey through the World Cup as a bonding moment with her Blue Hens.
From the beginning, the Blue Hens supported their head coach and were excited for her to be partaking in the World Cup. Assistant coach Steph Lazo and many of the student-athletes were writing up their 18-player rosters and trying to get Amy to spill the beans ahead of the final roster reveal.
“I, of course, knew everyone who was going to be on the team and had to play it off like, ‘I don’t know, maybe,’” Altig said, chuckling. “It was a really fun experience to have with our Blue Hens and watch them come into the office and erase a kid’s name and write someone different in place saying that this kid isn’t going to make it, it’s going to be this person.”
Her student-athletes were so invested and excited for their head coach that six – Lizzie Hsu, Madison Hranicka, Ella Farris, Steph Marszal, Alison Swartout, Sydni Rosa, and Emma Hoffman – showed up to the gold medal game in support of their leader.
“To see them in the stands with my family after was a surprise,” Altig said. “It was really touching and meant the world to me.”
Throughout the journey, Altig kept a notebook to write down drills, plays, and all sorts of things to help from a tactical standpoint with her Blue Hens in Newark. But it wasn’t just the tactical lacrosse piece of things that the fourth-year head coach is bringing back to her squad.
“The relationships built were something that reminded me of why I’m here at Delaware,” she said. “That’s to build a great culture, to build a great team. At the end of the day, it’s about the people that play this game and how you inspire and motivate them to bring their best.”
Levy echoed the feelings of Altig on what she can bring back to Newark to help continue to build the Blue Hens’ program.
“Amy reads the room really well,” Levy said. “One of our goalies was really specific and Amy had no issues accommodating. She would do extra sessions with them and work the goalies to get them ready. She’s a servant leader and was willing to do anything for them so they could be their best. We had such a great environment with Team USA, and she can take that with her back to Delaware. Amy should be confident that will translate to her program at Delaware.”
Final horn sounds and the staff immediately embraced one another, jumping up and down hugging. It was over. The five-year grind was over. The United States of America is the World Champion.
“To be in that position is a dream come true,” Altig said.
After the team was presented with its gold medals, standing there on the sidelines in Towson, Maryland the crowd erupts, singing the Star-Spangled Banner.
“That’s when it hit me,” Altig noted. “This moment is very, very cool.”
.@USAWLax wins the gold medal! @KarlieSmith_17 talked with @DelawareWLax Head Coach / USA Assistant Coach @CoachAltig postgame. #CAALax ???? pic.twitter.com/CGq5b3eNZX
— Colonial Athletic Association (@CAASports) July 9, 2022
