Minnesota Elite Girls: Lydia Sutton Playing in the Women's Lacrosse World Cup

July 22: Update from Lydia Sutton after returning home from the FIL Women's Lacrosse World Cup, where she was on the Silver Medal Canadian Team.

What are some of your favorite memories from your World Cup experience?
Sutton: By far, my favorite memory from the World Cup was winning the silver medal. It wasn't the best feeling to lose, but it was such a great feeling knowing that we had made history. Another one of my favorite memories from the World Cup has to be all of our team bonding events. As a team, we hung out together a lot and played games that we made up - it was such a blast.

How would you describe your Team Canada teammates?
Sutton: My teammates are a different group of girls, but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. I really enjoy every girl on the team and I think each one brought their own special character to the team. All the girls are very fun and outgoing and everyone got along with each other so well.

Canada lost the previous 3 semi-final World Cup games. This year they beat Australia to advance to the Championship game - what was it like to win that game?
Sutton: It was a pretty great feeling to beat Australia twice in the World Cup. Australia is always such a strong team and Team Canada has never before beaten them. To win that semifinal game, that felt great! I haven't played in any of the past World Cups, but for those that did, I could feel the energy coming from the defeats in the last World Cups. Knowing how big of an accomplishment it was for them made me feel the same way.

What players made a difference for you in this tournament?
Sutton: All of the older girls were so helpful throughout the 3 weeks in Canada. I always had someone looking out for me, I always knew they had my back.

There were 19 teams and 342 players in this World Cup. Which teams did you connect with?
Sutton: It was so fun to meet so many girls from around the world, and interacting with them every day. We LOVED the Netherlands team! They were always wondering how we did and who's to play next. They were a great group of girls and I am so glad I got to meet all of them.

Did you have any fans from Minnesota cheering you on?
Sutton: The Lakers team from MN was in Oshawa for a tournament and some of the girls that I know on that team were in the stands for a couple of games. My parents were there and were my biggest fans and supporters. I had a lot of friends, family, and MN Elite teammates keeping updated on the games and watching the online streaming of my games. I knew there were lots of people cheering for Team Canada.

What piece of advice would you give young lacrosse players who aspire to play in the World Cup?
Sutton: It might sound like a broken record, but just keep on practicing. The more you practice the better you will be, especially the basic fundamentals like stick-work. Work hard and follow your dreams!

Team Canada

Lydia Sutton and Dana Dobbie


An exchange with the Netherlands team - they were always in bright orange, and they gave us these cool orange shades!

Read a previous write-up and view more photos below:

July 7th:

Minnesota Elite '14 team member Lydia Sutton is playing in the FIL Women's Lacrosse World Cup as a player on the Women's Canadian National Team. Lydia left June 30th to join her teammates in Oshawa, Ontario where they are training prior to the start of the World Cup. The event begins on July 10th with Opening Ceremonies, followed by 10 days of games.

Read about Lydia in her player profile from Team Canada's website Lydia Sutton: Competitive & Fearless!

We caught up with Lydia after the first week of training.

Q: What's it like training for the World Cup?
Lydia: It's pretty hard core, I'm training with top level athletes so nothing is ever taken easy. We train for 6-8 hours every day and the sessions all depend on how we do. The second we mess up everything starts over from the beginning and sometimes it feels like I never stop moving my feet. But that's what we need; we have to be able to practice the way we want to play in games and if we don't have a good practice we can't expect anything better.
Q: What's it like going from high school lacrosse to the World Cup?
Lydia: Going from high school level lacrosse to national level lacrosse was obviously a huge jump for me, but it is also definitely a huge learning experience. Not many girls my age get the experience that I am getting and I am grateful for that.

Q: You are the youngest player on Canada's team, what's that like for you?

A little fun before the Games begin

Lydia: Being the youngest I am obviously treated as the youngest, but I like knowing that everyone is always looking out for me and making sure I know exactly what I need to know. I am so grateful for my teammates and their support. I couldn't have asked for a better group of girls to spend my first World Cup with!