‘It’s starting!’ his daughter, Talise, echoes him, clapping her hands happily.

Our parents laugh as we all settle in, pretending we aren’t wound up as tensely as a taut fire hose. Colt’s arm is around me on one side; Jordan, who’s also up for draft tonight, is on the other; and from behind me, Mumma and Papa clutch my shoulders, while in the seating behind us, Coach Dillon, along with our entire Riders team – including the men’s lacrosse guys – waits nervously, making for a very, very full boardroom.

With the women’s season beginning in a month, a staggered start from the men’s season, modelled after American soccer schedules, it feels like I’ve barely had a minute to breathe since the big game, and then since walking at the UOKC’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences graduation. That was my biggest hurdle for such a long time, and I finally did it as a College Lacrosse champion.

Up on that stage, posing for my photo, I had my degree in hand, but if I’m being honest, the championship game was still fresh in my mind. The second I touched that enormous trophy, holding it up over our heads as the team wept for joy, all the alternate options I’d dug up lost meaning. To physically touch victory like that is a rush like nothing else. It’s a rush like barrel racing and storm tracking all rolled into one couldn’t even give me. And that was when I realized I had to declare. There were no two ways about it.

Jordan taps at the laptop that sits in front of us, making sure we’re hooked up to Zoom in case we have to come on. The camera feed will run continuously, and if one of us is selected as a pick, we’ll be displayed on the live programme. With the aforementioned ‘horrendous Wi-Fi’, we’re not extremely confident this system will work.

‘With the first pick in the 2025 Women’s MLL Draft, the Philadelphia Liberty select McKayla Evers, Northern Virginia University.’

‘That’s okay. No worries,’ Coach chants from above us, as our parents pat our shoulders assuredly. There will be six rounds of picks. No worries. We’ll be okay.

The second pick, and then the third, fly past. Jordan and I clutch each other’s hands so tightly I’m pretty sure we’re cutting off one another’s circulation.

‘With the fourth pick, the Rhode Island Reapers select Jordan Gutierrez-Hawkins, the University of Oklahoma City.’

Jordan is on her feet in a split second, shrieking the loudest I’ve ever heard her and bringing me along. We’re jumping up and down so hard I think I’m going to break an ankle.

‘YOU DID IT!’