I would like to start the Athlete Spotlight by introducing myself, Rachel (Resnick) Mullooly, aspiring children’s book author, teacher, coach, athlete, and wife to my amazing and supportive husband, Tim. I began playing sports at a young age and I played many different sports including soccer, dance, basketball, indoor track, and lacrosse. Soccer was so much fun, but to be honest, I was not the best player in high school. I was fast and athletic, but most girls had been playing on travel teams, while I just played for my town’s recreational team. During indoor track, I broke my school record for the 800 meter run, and ran the 400m, 800m, and mile. Most notably, lacrosse became a major part of my life. My sophomore year of high school I made the varsity lacrosse team and became a team captain my senior year, in 2009.
I thankfully convinced my mom to sign me up for a travel lacrosse team and played for T3 Lacrosse, which was a college showcase team. I was recruited by my AMAZING college coach, Jen Fallon, and was a four year starting defender for the University of New Haven. Some notable college awards include IWLCA All-American, D2ADA Academic Achievement Award,Northeast-10 Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll, IWLCA All-North Region First Team selection, Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Year, All-Northeast-10 Conference First Team, Northeast-10 Academic All-Conference.
After college, I continued my passion for lacrosse by coaching for many youth teams all ages from 2nd grade to 8th graders. In addition to playing lacrosse in college, I earned a degree in Psychology and a Masters in Education and teach kindergarten and 2nd grade. As a teacher, I am luckily still able to be very involved in coaching. I was the assistant varsity coach at Dr. Phillip’s High School in FL in 2017-2018, assistant varsity coach and JV coach at Middletown North in NJ in 2019, and assistant varsity coach from 2020-present at The Ranney School in NJ. I have coached for many youth teams, including Wall Recreation, Lightning Lacrosse (FL), and currently coach for All Lax Select Club Team since 2019. I also have continued my passion for fitness by doing Crossfit for the last 9 years, and began coaching at Fitness By The Sea in 2023. I completed my second marathon, running the New York City Marathon in 2023, and still pushing myself daily to accomplish my goals.
Aside from coaching lacrosse, I currently teach 2nd grade in Howell, NJ. Teaching is in my bones. I absolutely love my job and watching my students grow each year. I bring fitness and activity into our classroom, by doing yoga daily and always getting in a “Fresh Start Workout” to get our bodies moving. They love it! We practice not only how to become better readers, writers, and mathematicians, but also learn how to be kind humans and be our best self.
I strive to share my passion for lacrosse and fitness with my students, athletes, and future children. I am so excited for this next adventure ahead! I will be starting by interviewing female athletes from high school, college, or currently still participating in their respective sports to share the positive impacts athletics has. My goal is not only to grow the game of lacrosse, but introduce young girls to sports and make them feel confident in starting new sports by sharing stories of others who started out just like them.
Q: What sports did you play growing up?
I played so many sports! I played soccer, dance, basketball, indoor track, and lacrosse. I started playing soccer when I was in 2nd grade. I played soccer until my senior year of high school and loved being with my friends. I was not the best at soccer, but was very fast. I was even often recruited to the cross country team which I always denied (sorry Mr. Looney) because I had FUN with my friends playing soccer! Basketball and track were ‘in between’ sports. Basketball taught me footwork, and kept me in shape for lacrosse season. I only played one year! After that, I did three years of indoor track. For the spring sport, I found something new. When I was in 8th grade my friend told me about lacrosse and I went to a clinic at Monmouth University. It was the first time I had ever heard of the sport, but all of my friends were playing so I tried it out! We had a blast on the freshman team and I decided I wanted to make lacrosse my focus. I dedicated my time outside of practice to getting better at lacrosse. That whole next year, I practiced lacrosse after soccer and track… playing ‘wall ball’ on the brick wall on my house. I practiced daily for that whole year to make the varsity team. Tryouts for lacrosse my sophomore year finally came and I was one of two sophomores to make the varsity team. When Coach Hall and Coach Palaia told me that I made varsity, I realized all of my hard work paid off. This story inspired me to start this website and start what’s next…more information and big things to come! I ended up playing lacrosse in college at the University of New Haven, and became and All-American by my senior year of college.
Q:Was there anything that made you hesitant about starting your sport(s)?
I am very short and petite, and I was always nervous that I wouldn’t be as good or as strong as other players because of my size. I realized that by working hard and hustling in every game in practice, you get better everyday!
Q: What female athletes (or any athletes) did you look up to?
I was always a big fan of Mia Hamm because she was such a good soccer player!! She was one of the few females athletes I was even aware of. I wish there were more female athletes in the media when I was younger to have known of more! In high school I also looked up to many seniors when I was a freshman and sophomore, and in awe of their talents. I worked hard to play along side them during lacrosse games. I’m hoping that by sharing these stories and highlighting female athletes, girls have more female role models to look up too.
Q: What is your favorite memory associated with sports?
There are SO many! I think my two favorite college game-day memories are notable. One was during my junior college lacrosse season, we played a team that was the #1 ranked team in the NCAA, and we beat them during our regular season… it was a huge upset! It was one of those crazy games that went back and forth scoring and it wast just so intense. We went into overtime and won with a game winning goal. We all ran and celebrated together and just that feeling of accomplishment during that game was one of the best. Another one was during a huge game my junior year as well, and we were in the locker room before a big game. We all listened to Al Pacino’s speech from Any Given Sunday, and put motivational quotes in our cleats. “You find out life’s this game of inches. So is football because in either game, life, or football, the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don’t quite make it. One half second, too slow, too fast, you don’t quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re in every break of the game, every minute. Every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. ” It was super powerful and the emotions heading out to the field for that big game were high, ready to fight for every inch to win our game. That ‘game day’ feeling as a player is something I miss deeply. Now I live it through the girls I coach!
Overall, all of my favorite memories consist of spending time with my teammates daily both on and off the field, getting pumped up for games in the locker room with dancing and music, practicing a laughing with teammates and friends, and having fun with my team.
Q: How has playing sports helped shape your life?
Playing sports has shaped my life in so many ways and I am so thankful I was involved in sports through out my life. It taught me the importance of team work by teaching me the importance of collaboration, communication, and shared goals. Sports showed me the importance of time management, as I balanced lacrosse, academics, and social life. It also helped me prioritize what was important to me. Sports built my confidence and taught me what it means to be committed to something. I practiced outside of practice to be the best player I could be, and to stay in shape during the off season. Some days I didn’t want to run, or workout, or play wall ball.. but I did it because I was committed to love of the game and love of lacrosse. It showed me how important staying healthy and active is and I carry that into my life on a daily basis.
Athletics pushed me to overcome obstacles and strive for continuous improvement, which has flowed into my career as a teacher as I strive to learn more about my profession and ways to help my students. I also made life long friendships throughout my time playing and being involved with many different sports, especially my college team. Coach Fallon, thank you for everything! Even today as an adult, I bring my love for lacrosse and athletics to my players on my travel and high school team, and students daily. Now, even though I am not actively playing lacrosse, I still compete by doing Crossfit, riding my Peloton, and running races such as 5k’s, half marathons, and even recently challenging myself to my second full marathon!
Q: What advice would you give to young girls who are just starting off in sports?
Don’t be too hard on yourself! Have fun and just try your best. It is okay if you are not the best, use that to motivate yourself and set personal goals. Have fun with your friends, enjoy the time spent with coaches and teammates, and work hard. The benefits out weigh the cons, so try a sport, if you don’t like it, try a new one! Also, if you are passionate about a sport, stick with it and practice outside of practice, put in the extra work to try and get better. Stay active and your body and mind will thank you!
Coach Rachel 