ISU women’s lacrosse club midfielder Jessica Koeger has goals on the lacrosse field and even bigger ones off of the field.

Koeger, the club’s president, has noticed the underwhelming amount of knowledge and participation in the sport in Iowa and is striving to reverse that trend. 

The Lacrosse Club has obtained consistent and continuous success in its performance on the field. The team has maintained a winning record in the past three years, and it even played in its first national championship in club history last season.

But for Koeger, the team’s performance on the field is not enough to be entirely successful.

“I came to the team just wanting to play lacrosse, but the team became a bigger part of my life, and I wanted to grow lacrosse and take on more responsibility,” Koeger said.

Koeger, a Colorado native, became well aware of the lack of participation that ISU students had from the first day she started with the club.

“When I joined the team, there were only enough girls to fill spots on the field and no subs,” Koeger said. “So once I had a leadership role as president [in my] junior year, I wanted to make people more interested in lacrosse and grow the team.” 

Koeger expanded her goal to bring attention to ISU lacrosse all the way to local elementary schools and middle schools in hopes of giving younger generations knowledge about the sport. She hoped it would influence their athletic lives.

Koeger has had a hand in the advancement of boys and girls lacrosse in Iowa. Now it is being implemented within physical education systems in grade schools.

The women’s lacrosse club has diversity in its skill and is on path to reach remarkable accomplishments and set the tone in the sport. 

“Now the word is out, and there are more girls coming from different places like Illinois and Minnesota,” Koeger said. “Going to nationals has put our name out there. We have a variety of talents, and so we are led to more success because of that.”

As her career on the team winds down, Koeger has full intention to keep her legacy at Iowa State for years after she’s gone. 

“I’m hoping that we continue to reach out to our school and community as well as work on our skills sets and to just get better in participating in nationals,” Koeger said.