Thirty girls line up in front of a full-length mirror in a field at Mander Playground in North Philadelphia. One by one they take turns stepping up to the mirror while their coach, Jazmine A. Smith (Coach Jaz), encourages each one to “look yourself in the eye” and say affirming statements. Practice can’t start until they do.

It’s a confidence-building technique at Eyekonz Sports, the lacrosse and field hockey league Coach Jaz founded to serve girls around Philadelphia and get more women of color playing a mostly white sport.

This weekday evening, a brisk bite in the air signals the start of fall, which under normal circumstances coincides with the start of a new school year. But in Covid times, the only in-real-life interactions many of these girls have are these practices. Girls age 5 to 18 start running laps — the older girls leading the way, the younger ones dawdling in the back — until they’re instructed to sort themselves into two groups by age. As the low sound of chatter among friends starts to rise, it’s abruptly cut short by Coach Jaz. “Listening skills are what?” she asks. “Life or death,” they respond in unison.

As a former field hockey and lacrosse player growing up in the city, Smith, 43, was often the only Black girl on her team. Years later, while coaching a local club team, she realized that diversity on the field hadn’t improved at all. “I was like, nothing's changed,” she says. “This is ridiculous.” As of 2019, female athletes of color represented only 16 percent of all Division I lacrosse players. Two percent were Black.

The older girls begin cradling drills — running while keeping the ball in the stick’s pocket. A few of the greener recruits spill balls across the ground. Nyobi Murphy, 15, however, sprints back and forth, gripping the stick with confidence. Nearby, Ayanna Reese, 18, a goalie, is preparing gear for the team’s next drill. Later, when the girls partner up to practice scooping ground balls, Erin Mobley, 15, runs in place to stay by a younger player’s side, encouraging her as she struggles to maneuver her stick. Nyobi, Ayanna and Erin are the pillars of the team. These three young women embody all the ideals that Eyekonz was created to foster: dedication to the game, to the team, to the community and to themselves.