Kate McHarg was an Australian Rules football player.

The youngest in a family with three daughters, McHarg became ‘like a little son’ to her father, Gerard, by playing sports with the boys.

But the football league she played in didn’t allow girls and boys to play together once they were older than 12. The Victoria, Australia native didn’t have many options left in football unless she wanted to play with the girls.

So her brother-in-law made a suggestion – try lacrosse. McHarg never played, or even followed lacrosse. Still, her oldest sister’s husband played it and he was sure McHarg would excel in it. She had plenty of endurance and, after years of competing and succeeding in football against boys and girls, there was no doubt she was tough.

McHarg’s switch to lacrosse turned out for the best. She has 25 goals in nine games for the Loyola women’s lacrosse team, 15 more than any other player on the team. The Greyhounds visit Syracuse and the Carrier Dome at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

The first time McHarg played lacrosse wasn’t so smooth.

As she was running down the field, McHarg grabbed an opponent by the shoulder and threw the girl to the ground. When the referee whistled McHarg for a foul, she didn’t know what she did wrong.

‘I remember taking a few things from football and using them in lacrosse,’ McHarg said. ‘I didn’t know I couldn’t use them.’

McHarg was in the majority, though. Most Australians have never heard of lacrosse, and it’s treated almost as an inferior sport. It’s only played at the club level, and Stacey Morlang, an assistant coach at Loyola and an Australia native, estimates there are only 10 club teams in the entire country.

And lacrosse is played in any space teams can find. McHarg recalls games where one team had to run uphill to score and attackwomen jumped over cricket pitches on the field. To many Americans, it would probably look more like an obstacle course than a lacrosse field.

More than once, McHarg finished a game with a swollen ankle from twisting it in the random potholes covering the fields.

‘You were lucky to have a fully mowed field,’ Morlang said. ‘It’s not like it is here. You’re lucky to walk down the road and, if you asked them, have people know what lacrosse is. Not many people have heard of it. It’s very casual.’

Still, McHarg decided to stick with lacrosse. She played on various club teams before making the under-19 Australian national team in 2003. Thanks to her athleticism, McHarg was selected captain of the team.

Even at the high level, the intensity of lacrosse in Australia was nowhere near the level in America. Despite being more relaxed about the sport, the Australian team qualified for the final of the U-19 World Championships against the United States.

The experience exposed McHarg and fellow Australian and Greyhound Talia Shacklock, who will not play against Syracuse due to an injury, to a higher level of lacrosse. Even though Australia lost to America, 21-8, the World Championships opened up another opportunity for McHarg.

Morlang approached McHarg about playing lacrosse at Loyola. With two Australians already at Loyola, McHarg, although surprised, felt confident she could succeed in American lacrosse.

‘I never expected it,’ McHarg said. ‘When I started off, I never knew it was even an option.’

But she was ecstatic to get a chance to play at a faster and more physical level. She struggled at first last year, scoring five goals. Unhappy with her performance, McHarg promised herself this year was her year to lead the Greyhounds.

Shacklock, Loyola’s captain, is out for probably the entire year with an injury she sustained practicing for the Australian national team. McHarg assumed her role.

There’s no one better than an Australian to replace an Australian, she thought. It looks as though she thought right.

‘It was a big change (from Australia),’ McHarg said. ‘(Division I lacrosse is) a lot more furious. It was a big step up. But I stayed extra and practiced. I worked very hard this summer. It’s just what Australians do, work hard.’

Published on April 5, 2005 at 12:00 pm