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By Abigale Dressback and Riley Tirrell
Buchholz High School has great spring sports programs. One that has stood out is the girls lacrosse team and the improvement it has made due to determined coach Marissa Higgins.
Last year the Bobcats’ record was 7-10 and they were ranked 89th in the state. After getting more accustomed to the team, Higgins led the Bobcats to a 12-6 mark and No. 47 ranking in the state. She almost doubled the wins and cut the state placement in half. In just one year. She has led her team with grace and grit.
Higgins was a two-time high school lacrosse national champion before playing for the University of Florida’s lacrosse team. After graduating, she coached for the UF club team, then became an assistant coach at Florida Southern College when it won the NCAA championship in 2016. Her final stop before Buchholz was Plant High where she led the Tampa school to a Sweet 16 appearance one season and then to the Elite Eight the next in the FHSAA playoffs.
Higgins is the human embodiment of optimism and dedication. She cares so much about the women’s lacrosse community that she took the job at Buchholz in order to keep the program alive and inspire a new generation of impressionable athletes. Higgins understands that winning and making the girls the best player they can be is important, but it is not her main focus. Her wish is that her girls turn out to be the kindest humans possible, she said. The world could use more coaches like Marissa Higgins.
@Riley_Tirrell and I did a feature story on Coach Marissa Higgins of the Buchholz Girls Lacrosse Team. Thank you Coach Higgins for taking the time to talk with us! @BuchholzSports pic.twitter.com/znyvt6oxni
— Abigale Dressback (@abigaledback) April 18, 2025
Buchholz ended the season with a loss in the 2A-District 5 Tournament semifinal to eventual champion Ocala Forest.
