Geiersbach initially got into coaching as a graduate assistant at North Carolina in 2023, but then left the profession to enter the corporate world.
“I thought I was ready to step away from the game,” Geiersbach said. “I was still playing, so I thought maybe I can use one of my degrees to do something not related with lacrosse so I would still get a good balance. I worked for a sports start-up and my heart just wasn’t fully in it.”
Geiersbach, who had played in Athletes Unlimited for three years after graduating from UNC, was playing in the inaugural Women’s Lacrosse League Championship Series when she got the opportunity to interview for the head girls’ lacrosse coaching job at Valor Christian in Colorado.
“They were looking for a new coach two weeks before the season,” Geiersbach said. “I stepped in the second the day of tryouts, so that was kind of crazy. But it was more like this is exactly where you need to be and where you’re supposed to be. And it all worked out.”
It definitely worked out, with Valor Christian winning a state championship.
Geiersbach is passionate about helping to spread the game in Colorado and beyond. The state has produced a Hall of Famer like Devon Wills and other national team players like Caroline Cryer, but hasn’t gotten the notice it deserves.
“I’ve tried not to get involved with one club program versus the other because I want to get to everywhere I can and help every person, player, team – whatever I can.”
Geiersbach knows she’s been fortunate to have the coaching she’s had throughout her playing career. And she takes her current role seriously because of that background.
“I hear horror stories of some of the experiences girls have with the coaching in high school, college and whatever,” Geiersbach said. “I have been so blessed with my over coaches over the years. My high school coach was great, my Richmond coaches I loved, my UNC coaches, obviously loved. And now in the WLL, Adam Sears and Coach Cap [Ginny Cappicchioni], they were phenomenal coaches. I’ve only experienced really great coaching, which I know is rare.
“I’m more so trying to replicate what they’ve done and what they’ve shown me – taking a little bit of their coaching styles and kind of putting it into my own.”
One of the takeaways that she’ll include in her presentation at the Denver Regional Academy is the importance of competition – even in the practice setting.
“One thing I’ve learned is that you have to compete at practice in order to grow as a team, but individually as well,” Geiersbach said. “Sometimes people are worried that competing can cause bad blood between players, but I think those were the practices where I learned the most and where the team got the most out of it.
“So, we’re going to go over some offensive footwork drills and putting them in drills where they compete 1v1 and also splitting the team up into two and keeping them in those groups the whole day.”
Her experience in Senegal was a reminder of how the game can bring people together. There were language barriers to overcome, but people were drawn to the stick. They started with a clinic for the students at Les Foyers, a school built by Le Korsa in Tambacounda.
“There’s one stadium in the city and there were just people watching and they would just jump in,” Geiersbach said. “So, I think it went from a group of 20 to probably a group of 40, which was really, really cool. We had enough sticks, we had enough balls, we had everything we needed.”
Later on they moved to Sinthien, where Ryan Cronin had introduced lacrosse a year earlier at a residence school. It's taken hold.
“The coolest thing was to see their natural instincts,” Geiersbach said. “Some people don’t have that. To see them roll dodging without even being taught. They’re throwing behind-the-back passes. They did shovel passes. So, that in itself, is like pretty incredible. It just brings you back to ok, this is why we do what we do. It’s meaningful, it’s inspiring and it’s just the best form of giving back to the game that you can get.”
