A reflection on competing with gratitude, intention, and a style of grit that doesn’t need to be loud to be powerful.
By Ellie Burdick
My first introduction to sports began in my backyard, playing pickup soccer with my older brothers. Everything I did as a child was an attempt to keep up with them. My brothers were my earliest competitors, but more importantly, they were my first coaches. They nurtured me, shared their skills, and pushed me to improve, showing me that competition is not a measure of comparison. They taught me that competition can coexist with support, love, and community, and that together, we are always stronger.
This lesson is what drew me to lacrosse from the very beginning, and has been reinforced through programs like TTL. Lacrosse gave me a community that encouraged me to be uncomfortable, try new skills, and embrace challenges, while also giving me the people and tools to overcome setbacks. Without question, this community is what I play for every single day. It includes high school teammates who showed me how far effort and compassion can take you, college teammates who persevered through the highs and lows with grace, and Dartmouth lacrosse alums who I never shared the field with but remain connected to through tradition. It is also the many coaches who have dedicated so much time and care, and, best of all, my parents who greet me with the same hug after every game, regardless of the outcome or distance traveled. This beautiful community pushes me to play hard as a way to express my gratitude for them – playing for the people, not the outcome.
With that support by my side from the start, it didn’t take long to understand what I play for and why I want to succeed. What took far longer was learning how to do it – how to succeed and how to overcome obstacles – in a way that felt true to myself. I drew deep inspiration from these people around me and my desire to express gratitude for their sacrifices, but it took time for me to realize that I didn’t need to compete in the same ways. I’m not striving to be an identical version of my teammates. Over time, I learned that my competitive spirit, fire, and grit can take a different shape. As a younger player, especially in middle school and early high school, my fire was internal and steady, never loud or flashy. I wasn’t scoring game-winning goals, and there were many games where I didn’t score at all as a midfielder. In fact, my coaches often had to beg me to drive to the net. To me, grit looked different.
It showed up in winning a groundball or recovering after a mistake, not breaking through defenders to score. Of course, goals are essential and demand sheer determination and skill, but my brain was just wired to compete through smaller, less visible moments. It took time for me to realize that being a quieter player, often not recognized on a stat sheet, was not a weakness. Quiet competitiveness became my strength. It allows me to stay grounded in where my feet are, reflect quickly, and communicate through intentional actions. I’ve always believed that actions speak louder than words, and my biggest role models are those who lead by example on and off the field. When it came to recruiting, being a middie who didn’t score too often was definitely a point of concern and anxiety for me. But through that experience, I learned that my quiet competitiveness and grit didn’t go unnoticed when they were paired with consistency and reliability.
Transitioning to my college self, my position has changed to defense and my teammates are no longer the girls that I grew up with, but I try to stay rooted in these same values. By showing up with intention and taking pride in smaller plays, I have built trust and confidence in myself. Today, that confidence has given me a stronger voice on the field, but it is still rooted in the same consistent actions. As I continue to grow as a player, what motivates me most is staying grounded in the people around me while competing in a way that feels authentic to myself. Every time that I step on the field, I aim to compete with intention and pride in my style of lacrosse to ultimately express my gratitude for the people and opportunities that this sport has brought into my life.