No Days Off

This past summer, the Boston Guard were looking to make a statement. The previous year, the Guard had won the 2025 Women’s Lacrosse League (WLL) championship during the league’s inaugural season, and now they were on a mission to defend that title. During the second game of the season, a see-saw battle against the California Palms, the relentless play of Boston’s superstar attacker Charlotte North—four goals and two assists—was keeping her team in the game. The Guard were down by just one goal with four minutes left, exactly the kind of situation where North, who is known to be at her very best when the pressure is on, has proven her greatness. “I play with a lot of passion and a lot of energy,” North said. “My style is powerful, explosive play.”

Then, suddenly and for the first time in her career, one of the world’s foremost lacrosse players was rendered powerless. As North cut toward the goal, she buckled, clutching the back of her ankle. At that moment she feared she had severely injured her Achilles tendon, and she was right. Two days later, North had surgery to repair the injury. Her season was over. In an instant, one of the sport’s signature athletes was sidelined indefinitely, and she faced an uphill journey to get back on the field. “When you love something with all your heart and soul, every once in a while it doesn’t love you back,” North wrote in an Instagram post the day after her surgery. “I will stop at nothing to get back out there with my teammates.”

It wasn’t just the WLL season that was lost for North. So, too, was her chance to play for Team USA in the world championships in Tokyo later that summer. Yet, as the competition approached, Team USA did something remarkable. North couldn’t even walk without the aid of crutches, but her presence on the team would be such a morale boost that the coaches and captains unanimously voted to give her one of the squad’s twenty-two roster spots. “The team didn’t want to go without Charlotte,” said Team USA coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein, who also coached North at Boston College.“ She’s even more impactful in the bedrock of the culture of the team and in the locker room than she is on the field.” Team USA eventually won its tenth world championship in August.

Seeing what she’s capable of on the field, it’s hard to believe that North, who is twenty-seven years old, didn’t begin playing lacrosse until the seventh grade. She played both lacrosse and basketball, her first love, through all four years of high school in Dallas, but by her senior year, North was growing obsessed with lacrosse. “It’s unique in terms of the skills that are required to play,” she said. “I loved that you could develop your own style.”

North started her collegiate career at Duke University before she was recruited to BC by Walker-Weinstein, who believed North would be the linchpin to BC lacrosse finally winning a national championship. North dominated during three seasons with the Eagles, leading BC to its first NCAA championship in 2021. Along the way, she earned a BA and also a master’s in sports administration, and left BC as a two-time winner of the Tewaaraton Award, which recognizes the top college lacrosse player, and the all-time Division 1 leader in goals scored, with 358.

After BC, North played for Team USA in the 2022 World Lacrosse Championships, leading the squad with twenty-three goals. Following a short stint with a different women’s professional league, she joined the WLL’s Boston Guard in 2025, where she has remained one of the biggest stars in the sport.

Guard coach Laurie DeLuca said North is attacking her rehabilitation from the Achilles injury with the same intensity that she displays on the field. In the beginning, her recovery focused on strength and mobility work with resistance bands. Then came more intensive lower-body exercises in a walking boot. By mid-September, North was out of the boot and taking steps without crutches. “In 2027,” DeLuca said, “people will be talking about Charlotte North’s resilience.”

While North works her way back to peak form, she’s focusing on several off-field lacrosse activities. She continues to work as an analyst for ESPN, broadcasting the sport’s top NCAA games. She’s also created a coaching app to provide virtual one-on-one lessons and instill in more young girls a passion for the game, and she travels the country leading clinics and training sessions. “I feel a sense of responsibility to show people what it looks like to be a professional lacrosse player at this level,” she said.

North is hopeful that her success, and that of other WLL athletes, will strengthen the league and bolster opportunities for future generations of professional women’s lacrosse players. “I can’t wait to see how much this league grows and how much opportunity will be there for the players that come after us,” she said. “But we’ve got a lot more playing to do, so that won’t be anytime soon.” ◽