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RADNOR – Cierra Hopson grew up surrounded by people who loved the sport of lacrosse. She knew that one day she would be taking part in the Katie Samson Lacrosse Festival.
Hopson’s grandfather, George Hopson, was a guidance counselor and coach at Radnor when Katie Samson was playing goalie for coach Phyllis Kilgour’s Raiders girls lacrosse team.
George Hopson’s daughter, Kristin, arrived at Radnor not long after Katie Samson left and became an All-Delco defender for the 2003 Raiders lacrosse team. She also played lacrosse at the University of Notre Dame, then coached at the University of Delaware.
“I think I started playing when I was in kindergarten,” Cierra Hopson, a sophomore, said before she helped the Raiders to an 11-7 victory over defending PIAA Class AAA champion Unionville at the 19th Katie Samson Lacrosse Festival on Radnor’s Encke Field Saturday morning.
“When I was in the seventh grade, Katie Samson’s mother (Bannie Ackerman) was my teacher.”
George Hopson was an assistant coach at Radnor and Archbishop Carroll before helping with the Villa Maria team that earned the 2018 PIAA Class AA title.
“Katie Samson’s a special person,” George Hopson said. “After she left here, she went up to Middlebury College and helped them win the (Division III) national championship as a freshman.”
Months later, she was involved in a sledding accident that left her a quadriplegic.
“She was a hard-working kid and became a great goalie,” Hopson added. “And then all that happened to her.”
Over the years, the Katie Samson Lacrosse Festival has grown into a major fund-raiser for research to help those with spinal cord injuries.
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Keith Newerla, left, accepts a check for $10,000 on behalf of Magee Rehabilitation Hospital from the Katie Samson Foundation, presented Saturday at Radnor High by Samson.
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