Taking The Field At Columbia—

Lacrosse Standout Brophy Juggles Athletics And Academics

By Andy Hutchison

Kaitlin Brophy doesn’t remember what she got in trouble for when she was in fifth grade, but she will forever be grateful for the punishment her mom gave her: Signing her up for a sport she wanted no part of at the time — lacrosse. “My mom wanted me to sign up earlier, but I was always a soccer kid,” Brophy recalls.

Hard to believe. Eight years, four conference championships, and some impressive individual accolades later, Newtown High School’s record-setting goal-scorer is a Columbia University lacrosse player. Brophy was recruited to play collegiate lacrosse and opted to put education first, narrowing her search to Ivy League schools which don’t offer athletic scholarships, for the betterment of her academic and athletic career.

Brophy points out that college sports schedules are quite demanding and that Ivy schools limit the number of hours teams train and practice to put an emphasis on academics, something she finds to be a perk.

That’s not to say Brophy won’t be working hard on the fields before, during, and after the spring season. The 2011 NHS graduate looks forward to continuing juggling her assignments in the classroom and on the lacrosse field.

“I find I do better in school during sports seasons,” said Brophy, who was a high honors student at Newtown High, while staying involved in several extracurricular activities and playing soccer each fall.

An All-American, Brophy earned the Most Valuable Player award for her efforts in the SWC title game. She broke Lisa Vendel’s goal-scoring record and finished up her four-year varsity career with 260 net-finders.

“I like everything about it — the competitive aspect to … I’ve never seen a family as tight-knit as the lacrosse community,” Brophy said of the game of lacrosse. “The people are always there for each other, through thick and thin.”

Lacrosse talent runs in the Brophy family. Her younger brother, Justin Brophy, has played the game since third grade and has been a key part of the winning ways of the Newtown High boys’ program in recent years. He is entering into his senior year at NHS. And their sister, Meaghan, who teamed up with Kaitlin to help the Nighthawks win their seventh straight South-West Conference championship this past spring, is a rising sophomore.

Brophy went to recruiting camps at Cornell, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania — including two in the same day. Brophy really wanted to go to Columbia. As luck would have it, four-year Pennsylvania lacrosse assistant Liz Kettleman was set to take the head coaching job at Columbia and liked what she saw in Brophy at the camp.

Brophy’s field of study is undeclared, but she’s looking forward to the new challenges and excitement of playing collegiate lacrosse. She will, however, miss her days in Newtown. “I’m going to miss the girls and the coaching staff,” Brophy said.

And she will leave big shoes to fill on the NHS lacrosse field. Maura Fletcher, the varsity coach at Newtown High, said she expects Brophy to start in her freshman year at Columbia and views her likely as an impact player on the team.

Brophy brought a “hard work ethic and definitely a high level of intensity,” to the Newtown High field, Fletcher said. “She’ll definitely be missed.”