A lacrosse star, full-time student and future journalist – Suffolk University’s Victoria Wood is taking her lacrosse talent on a flight to Europe after being accepted to Italy’s Women’s Lacrosse team.
Wood is a 20-year-old journalism student, but her passion lies within the lines of the lacrosse field. She was raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida before moving to New Hampshire after middle school. Wherever she was, lacrosse was an integral part of her childhood. It bled into her weekend plans, her family life and even her health.
“I’ve been playing lacrosse since I was only four years old. I have sisters, but they were into other activities like theater and the arts. So, being the youngest, my dad kind of just threw me into lacrosse,” said Wood.
Her father was a professional lacrosse coach after playing in the minor leagues and deciding to pursue coaching. With such a deep appreciation for the sport, her father’s adoration sparked her love for lacrosse as well. Now it consumes her life, which she wouldn’t have any other way.
Wood began playing at a more competitive level in middle school, where she played for Florida Select, a highly competitive and selective team for pre-teen girls.
“We traveled every weekend to a different state for tournaments and games, so that was the bulk of my middle school experience. Everyone has their own middle school experience, but that was definitely mine,” said Wood.
Going into high school, Wood had her sights set on playing college lacrosse. She found herself frequently discussing DI schools and touring, following her dreams of going pro. Wood had just moved north to New Hampshire and started playing for Mass Elite, the Massachusetts version of Florida Select.
“When you join a club team like that, the recruiting process becomes engraved in your brain. I went to a bunch of prospect days and had a lot of teams reaching out to me throughout my freshman and sophomore year,” said Wood.
But alas, Covid hit.
All practices, tournaments and games were canceled. Everything was shut down, with no end in sight. How could they play such a heavy contact sport when they had to be six feet apart? Wood feared for her recruiting process with her season impaired and older athletes taking fifth years. And that’s just when things took an even sharper turn.
“Basically, I received three concussions my junior year of highschool, totalling my concussion count to five. Two weeks before I got my fifth concussion, I was invited to try out with USA’s national team. I had my plane ticket and everything planned out, but because I got my fourth and fifth concussion in the span of three months, I couldn’t go to the USA tryouts,” said Wood.
From these concussions, Wood would pass out and even had serious trouble reading. She was heartbroken, left with the shards of her dream that she had worked her entire life to achieve: playing lacrosse in college.
Her parents told her that it was no longer in the cards for her. Her concussions affected her day-to-day life entirely. She couldn’t go to school, to lacrosse, nothing. She sat in a dark room constantly with a headache, unable to salvage her academics that took a deep dip due to her concussion leaving her almost illiterate.
“I opted out of the recruiting process, which was extremely hard because it was my entire dream. I started to look at schools for academics instead, keeping track and field in mind because it was the only sport that I’d be able to play. All in all, Suffolk was my favorite,” said Wood.
Wood started off with the track team at Suffolk, until she found out that Suffolk also has a lacrosse team. With two years off of lacrosse to focus on health and daily life, Wood felt ready to get back into her game. From there, the barriers of her dreams of playing lacrosse in college have been shattered, with her now glistening in the light of the Olympics.
This summer, Wood was keeping up with the European Worlds tournament. With her sister just returning from Europe, the two were interested in getting their dual citizenship in Italy. Wood reached out to Italy’s coach explaining the past couple years, her concussions and her unfortunate disqualification to try out for the USA’s team.
“I told her how my grandparents are from Italy and how I was receiving dual citizenship and was wondering what the process to tryout for the team would be like. I sent her my film and she invited me to play in some 6’s games between Italy and Ireland at Thayer Academy in Braintree. They were a warm up for the box games in New York this fall, so it worked out perfectly,” said Wood.
Since there are no Euros or Worlds games this upcoming summer, Wood will start training in the Olympic facility in Italy come January. She’s going to stay in school while traveling, finish her degree, and spend the next two years after she graduates training for Worlds.
“As the Olympics approach, there will be way more training and games I’ll have to attend. For now, I think I’ll be able to manage training and school for my junior and senior year. After graduation, it’ll definitely be time to lock in. The team is filled with the kindest people from all around the world. We all text and keep in touch, I’m just so excited,” said Wood.
Wood is excited to play for Italy, with the country holding a special place in her heart. Her father’s late mother is from Sicily, and she sees this opportunity as an ode to her grandmother, her father’s love for lacrosse and her dreams of going pro. Check your TV summer 2028 and see Victoria Wood take on the world on Italy’s Women’s Lacrosse team.
