When an opposing goalie sees Yael Sabin approaching, it’s usually too late to react. The Jewish star midfielder for the Ladue High School Rams in suburban St. Louis will seize the opportunity to score yet another goal.
Sabin, 18, has already amassed an impressive set of stats. She is the scoring leader for the 8-3 varsity girls’ lacrosse team with 46 goals and 11 assists. She currently ranks in eighth place among all metro-area high school lacrosse players in goals.
After graduating this spring, Sabin will take her considerable talents to Ashkelon, Israel, to play lacrosse for Team Israel.
“I love lacrosse,” Sabin said. “It’s a really exhilarating, fun sport. I love to take the draw, I love to score goals, get my teammates assists and watch them succeed. I try to focus on my ‘field IQ,’ knowing where my teammates are. You have to play the game strategically. That helps your team be successful. Being confident with athletics and ball carrying is also very important. Confidence builds a player up and allows them to reach their full potential.”
Sabin has always been a good athlete and started out playing club basketball. Her father, Andrew Sabin, was a very good tennis player and recalls Yael throwing a football with him and going to the fitness center at the Jewish Community Center.
“We’re an athletic family, but I didn’t really know anything about lacrosse before she got into it,” he said. “In terms of her lacrosse abilities, that’s pretty much all Yael.”
During the COVID pandemic, Sabin’s parents encouraged her to play an outdoor sport, so she tried lacrosse for the first time.
“I was actually really, really awful to start,” she said. “The only reason I made my club team was because it was a COVID year, so no one was trying out. Then I just really clicked with the sport and got really good.”
Sabin works hard to understand the nuances of the sport. She uses a combination of speed and awareness of where her teammates are to disrupt an opposing team’s defense. She also dominates in the draw circle (like a face-off in hockey), according to Rams assistant coach Jenny Hoffman-Mentle.
“That allows us to control the game and beat any opponent,” Hoffman-Mentle said. “It is a unique skill. She’s also a fierce attacker. She’s great on the drive, and she excels at setting up her teammates for them to score. In addition to goals, she has a number of assists, and to me, as a coach, that’s an important thing because you’re making sure your teammates can score.
“That’s a huge part of our Ladue lacrosse culture,” she said. “She is a leader on and off the field, and she’s also a really smart kid.”
‘Best time of my life’
In 2023, Sabin’s mother, Alana Umansky Minoff, found an international lacrosse program in Israel that she thought would be a great experience.
“It’s kind of like Birthright,” Sabin said. “I really didn’t want to go and miss out on a month of summer with my friends here. I was crying, and I was afraid I wouldn’t know anyone who was going. When I got there, I ended up having the best time of my life. I didn’t want to leave. I really felt a connection with my Judaism and with Israel. It was amazing and the most fun lacrosse I’ve ever played. I love the coaches. I love the team. I love the community.”
Following the Israel lacrosse experience, the team returned to the United States to play in a tournament in Philadelphia, where all the national teams competed.
“It was extremely fun,” Sabin said. “I got to represent Team Israel, and I continued to stay involved with Israel lacrosse. Then Oct. 7, 2023, happened, and I just felt that this was my calling.”
Sabin said she had already felt a special connection to Israel and Judaism prior to the trip. Her family belongs to Nusach Hari B’nai Zion in Olivette, Mo.
“My family has always been observant,” she said. “We celebrate all the Jewish holidays. And we attend Israel support events.”
Sabin decided to return to Israel the following summer. The Hamas attack weighed on her mind since some of her new Israeli friends live near Gaza.
“Last summer, I was there for three weeks in the midst of the war,” she said. “I had to go into a bomb shelter. We saw a bomb intercepted by the Iron Dome. It was something that really hit me. I wrote my college essay about it, and I texted my mom during that trip to say, ‘I am moving here next year.’ I wanted to make aliyah. And I wanted to continue playing for Team Israel and represent the country. I found my people and my friends.”
During her upcoming Team Israel lacrosse journey, Sabin will be taking classes in a gap-year program run by Young Judea. The classes are operated by Hebrew College in Boston. She will obtain college credits while working with Magen David Adom, Israel’s national ambulance and disaster-relief organization.
“I want to be in a profession that helps people,” she said. “Occupational therapy is something that I’ve thought about, especially on the pediatric side. And I want to stay involved with Israel lacrosse in my future, whether that might be a coaching position or whatever they have to offer me.”
Reprinted with permission from the St. Louis Jewish Light.