On Wednesday the 24th of February I was honoured to interview Eleanor Gaastra; elite lacrosse player and doctor.

Gaastra, who started playing lacrosse for Wales at age 14, is now the captain of the Welsh lacrosse team.  “Supporting the players on and off the field”, she has led the team for 6 years now.  Eleanor described how playing for such a high level team is “definitely a lot of pressure and responsibility”, but continued in expressing her “pride in playing for [her] country”.

Playing for her country while also studying medicine at Cambridge university, proved to be hard for Gaastra, but she rose to the challenge.  Not only playing for the Welsh national lacrosse team, but also for the Cambridge Varsity team for the six years she was there (two of which she captained in 2009/10) Eleanor definitely had her plate full.  Gaastra played in two world cups while at university as well.  Now, Gaastra works as a specialist anaesthetist at University Hospital Southampton, and she commented that she has “finally got the right balance”.

As a doctor, many skills that she has learnt and developed from lacrosse continue to help her in her job. “Thinking under pressure, reacting to high pressure scenarios in the hospital, being able to work in a team with so many people” are a few skills Gaastra listed. 

During the Covid pandemic Gaastra has been working hard to maintain her fitness.  “The gyms being closed has made it a challenge to keep up strength, but I’ve been doing a lot of running and cycling” She stated, “it’s been nice to stay fit”.  Travel is another thing that has halted, as before the pandemic Eleanor got to “travel a lot, which was great”, playing for Wales.  Gaastra commented the highlight of her career was captaining at the World Championships in 2017, and “being able to go out onto big crowds”.

Sport has always held a special place in her life.  “I’ve always loved sports” Gaastra commented.  “My best friends are on the lacrosse team.  We support each other on and off the pitch”.  Eleanor explained the importance of having good relationships and good friends within your team when playing sports - “It’s so much more fun and it makes the wins even more special when you’re together”.

Her advice for budding lacrosse players, and more generally young sports players is, “don’t be afraid to be too keen - stay after practise, put in the extra work.  And keep it fun, just enjoy it!”