By Christopher Tremblay. Staff Sports Writer

Upon entering high school Grafton’s Caity Tyldesley was a three-sport athlete, lacrosse, basketball, and soccer. She would continue to play all three sports for her first few years but eventually realized that lacrosse was not only her passion, but her best sport. Subsequently she dropped basketball and soccer to not only focus on lacrosse but work on improving her craft. 

   “I had played all three sports in high school, but eventually lacrosse took over,” Tyldesley said. “It had been building up; around seventh grade (four years playing club lacrosse) I had feeling that this was my sport. The competitiveness and the quick back and forth of the game really intrigued me.”

  The senior midfielder for the Gators grew up in a family of athletes and when she was in the first grade she found herself going to her siblings’ lacrosse games and thought it was something special and immediately wanted to join in on the fun. It wasn’t until three years later that she began to take the sport seriously and joined a club team. 

  Grafton girls lacrosse coach Karl Moisan first got a glimpse of Tyldesley when she started playing for his club team in the fourth grade.

   “I was with my daughter when we were working on a drill and Caity went left as a righty. We both looked at one another in amazement and right there I realized that she was going to be something special,” Moisan said. “Having a large family of athletes, they keep her in check and don’t allow her to have a big head, but she is an intense individual and will let people know if they did something wrong and that even includes myself.”

  Although she felt that she was a talented player she was somewhat on edge when it came to try out for the high school varsity team as a freshman.

   “Tryouts were very nerve racking,” she said. “It was not very common for a freshman to make the varsity team. I did make the team but didn’t get to start until the second game and have been there ever since.”

  During her younger years the now high school senior found herself trying out for the midfielder position and although she stated that she would have played any position to be on the field; she loves being around the ball and action at all times. It drives her insane when she is not involved on a consistent basis.

  Playing with the older girls on the varsity team as a freshman boosted her confidence on the field, but when the season ended she knew that if she was to be an impact player for the Gators she was going to have to work on her shot selection. During that off-season w=she not only worked on that with her club team, but she also attended some shooting clinics. 

  Things obviously worked in her favor. As a sophomore Tyldesley found the back of the opposition’s net 98 times for goals while adding 87 assists. The following year she notched another 96 goals and handed out 68 assists. 

   “She is a very knowledgeable individual with a high lacrosse IQ,” the Grafton coach said. “She is an all-round phenomenal player; a two-time All-American and a three-time All-Star. She is the most decorated girls lacrosse player at Grafton and one of the top five players ever.”

  With all the accolades, it was going to be a no brainer that some college would eventually ask her to play for their program. University of Connecticut was that school.

   “Since division I and II schools couldn’t contact you until after September 1 of your junior year, I sent out a bunch of emails to schools that I was interested in,” she said. “September 1, UCONN contacted me, I went out for a visit and was convinced right away that this was the school I wanted to go to.”

  During her visit, she followed one of the girls on the team around for a day to see what a typical day would consist of. Tyldesley loved the atmosphere of the school and it wasn’t all that far away from home. Then in October she got the call from UCONN. After hanging up the phone she talked it over with her parent and almost immediately called them back to accept.

   “It was around eighth grade that I decided that lacrosse was the sport for me,” Tyldesley said. “From that point on I was convinced that I was going to play in college.”

  While college is still another four months away, Tyldesley still needs to worry about her senior campaign with Grafton. The team has a much tougher schedule mapped out for them this year, but the senior captain is not backing down.

   “As one of the leaders on this team I am hoping to get the younger girls to like the sport and carry on the Grafton tradition,” she said. “Individually I wasn’t to be the best captain and leader for them that I can be. During my sophomore season I had some really good captains and I want to return the favor.”

  In addition to being a top-notch captain, Tyldesley would also like to help her team get back to the State Tournament and take the Gators past the Round of 8, where they fell to Notre Dame of Hingham last year.