From Star Athlete to Head Coach: How Lyla’s Medical Experience Inspires a Team Culture of Safety
1.23.25 I Sarah Radulovich-Go and Heather Cooper
For as long as Lyla can remember, she has loved lacrosse, from competing in high school and college to becoming a coach. “Lacrosse has played a pivotal role in my life,” she said. But, before her senior year of college, a diagnosis would leave Lyla concerned her final year of collegiate lacrosse would be disrupted.
Originally diagnosed in the eighth grade with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), Lyla’s family was already familiar with the abnormal curvature of her spine, which at the time measured 42 degrees and did not require surgery. Several years later, the AIS progressed to 60 degrees, and her doctor then recommended spine surgery.
Seattle Children’s Expert Care
Lyla was in good hands. Seattle Children’s pediatric orthopedic experts are the most experienced in the region. They perform over 150 spine surgeries and treat the most pediatric patients of any hospital for orthopedic care every year.
“Our surgeons are part of national and international research and clinical trials on the spine,” explained Dr. Jennifer Bauer. “Because we’re on the cutting edge of pediatric spine surgery at Seattle Children’s, we offer AIS patients options not commonly found elsewhere. For Lyla, we were able to fuse her two spine levels shorter than the textbooks would normally direct us to, to save her as much motion for her sports as possible.”
Recovery, Success, and a New Role
Over the next few months, Lyla’s new goal was to heal and play lacrosse in her team’s upcoming season. “Sitting out while watching my teammates work hard to get better gave me a new perspective and love for the sport,” Lyla said, reflecting on how she felt sitting out while recovering from her surgery.
Lyla followed a recovery plan provided by her doctors, making sure she was fully recovered before returning to the field. Her senior year, she started in all 19 games, finished the season strong, and graduated from George Fox University. Several years later, Lyla is the coach of her high school lacrosse team, still doing what she loves.
Reflection Inspires a Team Culture of Safety and Recovery
Since becoming a lacrosse coach, Lyla has reflected on her medical experience, and as a result, it shapes some of her coaching philosophy, specifically, around injury prevention and proper recovery when injuries do happen.
Coach Lyla implements training best practices to ensure injury prevention. “The most important thing we do is proper warm up and cool down. This includes a variety of static and dynamic stretching,” she said.
Using the right gear, following the rules of the game, and ensuring proper technique also helps prevent injuries. “In lacrosse, many injuries occur because of improper play, so we try to eliminate bad habits early in the season,” she said.
She also emphasized the importance of athletes listening to their bodies, adding, “The other piece is teaching our athletes that it is never worth sacrificing their body or future health. We encourage our players to be honest with themselves and us about what is going on with their bodies. The goal is to create a team culture that encourages catching potentially severe injuries early and taking the necessary steps to get players back on the field as quickly as possible.”
She’s focused on fostering an environment where athletes are encouraged to take the time they need to recover. However, creating that culture is a team sport, requiring buy-in from the athletic department, athletes, and their parents. As Lyla knows better than many others, athletes do best when in an environment that encourages players to take the time they need to recover from medical conditions, whether a condition or an injury.