Anna started playing Lacrosse in 1998 after a recruitment at her primary school in Prague, Radot’n. ?She soon went on to play for the Czech national team and represented the squad as captain in many World Championships.
Anna was forced to retire due to constant knee injuries but stayed in Lacrosse as a coach working in many other European countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium and Poland to develop the sport and its participation levels.
After returning to Czech in 2012, she formed a children’s lacrosse team Zbraslav and has an ambition to coach Lacrosse in the USA and England.
How did you begin your coaching career?
After participating WC 2009 in Czech Women’s Lacrosse Team, I got my first knee injury which resulted in surgery. I tried to come back many times, but my body could never fully recover. I started to focus more on coaching, which I now feel was my destiny. When I lived in the Netherlands in 2011, I helped to develop lacrosse in my home club, other clubs and around my City also.
In 2012, when I was just an assistant coach, I become good enough to coach the Czech Women’s Lacrosse Team. It was at this time I realised I was a much better coach, mentor and supporter than player. I am qualified through the US Lacrosse online course, US Lacrosse Convention and Czech Universities.
What are your main coaching philosophies and how were they shaped?
My main coaching philosophy is to have fun. I would like to see my players being able to play basketball, football, use a skipping rope and not just focus on lacrosse skills. I also learned it’s not important to win. For my kids, when you say ‘win; they cannot understand what they have to do. That’s why we take the games easy and focus on specific skills. When everything is done perfectly, winning comes naturally.
Which of your coaching achievements are you most proud of?
Building a new team in Prague, which is growing very well now and starting to play other forms of Lacrosse too. I started on my own with 8 kids and after one year I now have 21 kids and 4 coaches.
What are your coaching ambitions for the future?
I definitely would like to help with growth of our sport in Europe mainly and around the World such as Uganda, Jamaica etc. I wish to work for skilled, smart and fair-play players in Czech.
