Field hockey and lacrosse are two Division I sports that demand lots of time, energy and stamina from their talented athletes, but sophomore Julia Ramsey is excelling in both sports at Cornell.
Meet Ramsey, who was originally recruited for field hockey and later walked on to the women’s lacrosse team.
Lacrosse and Field Hockey Before Cornell
Ramsey is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She started playing both lacrosse and field hockey at five years old. As a child, she said her family influenced her to play sports.
“While we are all competitive we all are super supportive of each other,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey’s family is no stranger to the Division I level of sports: Ramsey's sister, Caroline Ramsey ’24 played field hockey for Cornell. She also has a brother, Nicholas, who plays lacrosse at Yale University. Her father Patrick Ramsey played both ice hockey and lacrosse at Colgate University. She has two cousins playing field hockey at Yale University, Lily and Emma Ramsey.
Ramsey picked up travel lacrosse and field hockey because of her love for the game and her older sister and older cousin playing the sports as well.
In high school, she played field hockey, lacrosse and ice hockey. She was a National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Region team honoree in 2021 and selected for her All-County and All-Conference teams multiple times.
During Ramsey’s sophomore year of high school, many athletic clinics and showcases she wanted to attend were cancelled or delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ramsey said this caused her to discuss which sport to prioritize with her family.
“After talking with my family, I decided to stick with just club field hockey but continue playing lacrosse at my high school,” Ramsey said.
Becoming Dual Sported
When she was deciding between programs to commit to, Ramsey said she “fell in love” with Cornell’s campus and athletics. Because her sister Caroline and cousin Annie Thomas ’24 played field hockey and lacrosse, respectively, Ramsey said she was familiar with the campus.
“When I got the offer from Coach [Andy] Smith I accepted within a day or two,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey had a successful freshman year campaign for the Red — she led the nation with 1.06 assists per game and accounted for 22 points. But, Ramsey said she deeply missed playing lacrosse.
“My cousin was a fifth year on the team, and I would attend all the scrimmages and games,” Ramsey said. “I was already missing it so much and watching it made me miss it more, so I decided to try to walk on to the team.”
But this decision would not be easy — it would require Ramsey to balance two Division I sports at the same time and be in season all year round, which meant constant training, games and meetings with her team.
So, her first step was to talk to field hockey head coach Andy Smith about her decision.
“Coach Smith was definitely surprised by my decision since I would be missing the off-season training for field hockey,” Ramsey said. “But ultimately, he has been very supportive of me as a person both as an athlete and student.”
After emailing women’s lacrosse head coach Jenny Graap and working with the team, Ramsey accomplished her goal of walking on and was excited to play the sport she loved.
But the accomplishment was not without its challenges, as Ramsey must balance 20 hour weeks year round for two different sports while also being a student. Ramsey also said that while some skills from the two sports crossover, each sport is very unique.
“Playing with the ball on the ground versus in the air requires a different set of skills,” Ramsey said. “I like being able to work on my footwork and hand-eye coordination skills since that is what mainly translates over between the two sports.”
In addition, Ramsey said the experience of the two teams has been different: the field hockey roster this year is “a smaller team” of 24 players, whereas the lacrosse team has 43 members listed on the roster.
She also noted that she plays different roles on each team.
“For the lacrosse team, I am definitely more of a scout player, so I help prep[are] the team for the competition they will play that weekend,” Ramsey said. “Whereas for field hockey I play more games.
Regardless of her role, Ramsey emphasized her commitment to both teams and her drive to compete at the highest level. She also said that the Cornell Athletics culture was motivating to her because she felt like her coaches and teammates always wanted what was best for her. She also thanked her family for their support in her process.
Her biggest takeaway: “if I wanted to do something, I should just go for it and work hard to earn it. “
“Looking back it was definitely a big decision, but I think that if there is something that you really want to do then it is important to push yourself and go for it to see what will happen,” Ramsey said.
