Julia Southard begins her third season directing the St. Francis lacrosse program.

She has led the program to back-to-back North Coast Section and three straight Sacramento Valley Lacrosse playoff appearances. She originally joined the program as the co-head coach with Spenser Brown in 2016.

Southward’s team was named the Sac-Joaquin Section Academic Team Champion for the 2018 spring campaign. The Troubadours posted a combined 3.389 grade point average to edge Oak Ridge (3.354) for the sport title.

Southard has an extensive coaching background at the collegiate and high school levels. She most recently was the girls head coach at Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland from 2013-15. She also established Brick Wall Lax, a recruiting company that advises and guides student-athletes and families on the college recruitment and the selection process.

Southard has worked on the staffs at the Connecticut, UC Berkeley and LaSalle. She was the director of team relations and recruiting coordinator at UConn from 2010-11 and held the same position for the Bears from 2007-10. She was an assistant coach and director of operations and office management at LaSalle from 2005-07.

She was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter at Brown as a goalkeeper, earning All-Ivy League second-team honors in 2005. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history with a focus on Modern Western Civilization in 2005.

She was a two-time USL High School All-American and is a member of the Manhasset Lacrosse Hall of Fame (2012).

She currently is CEO for Athletic Endeavors offering personalized recruiting consulting for elite athletes.

Sacramento Valley Lacrosse League Selections

• Maggie Anderson (Second Team), 2016, Sportsmanship, 2016
• Meg Anderson (Honorable Mention), 2016
• Grace Barger (Second Team), 2018
• Kristen Bartow (Sportsmanship Award), 2018
• Jade Borg (Second Team), 2017, 2018, Honorable Mention, 2016
• Sarah Brust (Honorable Mention), 2017
• Kelly Chavez (Honorable Mention), 2016
• Sophia Gorona (First Team), 2018
• Jorie Keitges (Honorable Mention), 2018
• Maggie Pinkston (Second Team), 2017, 2018
• Juliette Vielhauer (Honorable Mention), 2017
• Sarah Westover (First Team) 2016, 2017
• Rachel Wick (Honorable Mention), 2018