Less than a half hour from the University of Rhode Island, URI women’s lacrosse fourth-year midfielder Emma Hughes captained her lacrosse team at Chariho Regional High School in Richmond, where she set school records for assists in a game, season and career.
This proximity to home is what motivated Hughes to transfer to URI in spring 2022, after just one semester playing at Division III Keene State College.
When she originally made the decision to transfer, Hughes was not even aware of the URI women’s lacrosse team, which was still early on in the building process.
“It’s kind of serendipitous, like fate, that she made that decision,” Rams Head Coach Jenna Slowey said.
The move also predated URI’s hiring of Slowey – announced in July 2022 – by a few months.
While no official NCAA team existed yet, Hughes began playing on the club team almost immediately upon her arrival at Rhode Island. With the announcement of the brand-new women’s lacrosse program, Slowey figured that the club team would be the best place to start building her roster for the future. The coaching staff began sitting down with possible roster candidates to determine whether or not they would be the right fit. Right away, Hughes made a lasting impression.
“Emma was the first one we sat with,” Slowey said. “It was like a no-brainer.”
Despite the lack of playing experience at the Division 1 level, the intangibles Hughes brings to the table are what have put her in a position of leadership, according to Slowey. The value of those intangibles became present through the development of this brand-new program.
Such a unique situation provided its own unique challenges, according to Hughes. The team would not begin playing games until 2025, but still had to find ways to hone their craft and build chemistry together. This came in the form of a simulated season schedule, but without consistent opponents.
“It was hard to keep the culture,” Hughes said. “Usually when you’re practicing, you’re practicing for a game. We were practicing every day, we were doing full week[s], but we weren’t playing [games] yet.”
Hughes, the longest-tenured player on the roster, impacted the improvement of the team in many ways. As the team’s only member for the entirety of 2022-23, she not only helped as a player, but also as a recruiter, assisting the coaching staff in building the team around her. Ahead of the inaugural season, Hughes’ hard work paid off, and she was picked by her teammates to represent the team as one of its three captains.
“She’s the heart and soul of the team,” Slowey said.
For Hughes, this debut season, which was three and a half years in the making, has been more than special.
“It’s surreal, honestly,” Hughes said. “I’m just trying to appreciate every single day. It has been a privilege and an honor to grow the sport in Rhode Island.”
Now, finally, the URI women’s lacrosse team is playing consequential games. Hughes said she hopes to continue to provide leadership on and off the field as they navigate the trials and tribulations of the inaugural season.
The team is off to a 4-2 start with conference playing beginning at the University of Massachusetts on Wednesday.
