When it came to playing sports growing up, Pennsbury senior Mia Popovich really knew just one.

Gymnastics.

"That's all I really did," Popovich said. "I was in gymnastics for nine years, practicing like four or five hours a day, five days a week."

Then a friend suggested she give lacrosse a try.

"I didn't even know what lacrosse was," Popovich said with a laugh. "I really didn't. Lacrosse looks a lot easier than it is.

"But it's really hard until you get the hang of it."

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Pennsbury lacrosse standout Popovich a quick learner

Popovich did. In a hurry.

"Mia is such a good player that when you watch her play, you can't believe that she really just started with lacrosse not that long ago," Pennsbury head coach Marguerite McDonald said.

"She had some friends tell her that she could be really good at lacrosse, and she took it from there. She picked up the game so quickly and her lacrosse IQ has gotten so much better."

And it wasn't just lacrosse that Popovich tried for the first time as a freshman. She also gave field hockey a go for the first time in ninth grade and was starting on varsity as a junior.

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Pennsbury's Popovich made sport switch look easy

"She was in competitive gymnastics for a long time and to be able to make that switch to two completely new sports is really something," McDonald said.

"A lot of it is due to hard work. She really got into both sports and worked and worked to get better. She's been a two-year captain, which doesn't happen very often, and that just tells you how her teammates feel about her leadership."

Leaving gymnastics left Popovich with a block of time to try new things.

"Gymnastics was a part of my life for so long," Popovich said. "But it hit a point where I kept getting injured a lot.

"I had a couple of ankle sprains and almost dislocated my knee, and it just wasn't worth the risk anymore. But, when I stopped gymnastics, I had a lot of time on my hands to try something else."

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And it wasn't long before she not only picked up her new sports that others began to notice.

Colleges started noticing the Bucks County standout

"In my sophomore year, I really had no idea how the (college) recruiting process worked," Popovich said.

"I was thinking that maybe I could play Division Three, but then I started getting emails from some schools and realized that if I kept working at it then maybe I could play Division One."

Sure enough, that's what happened as the midfielder has committed to play at Division One Siena College.

"I loved the campus, (plus) the team atmosphere and the coaches are great," Popovich said. "They have a wide range of majors which helps me because I'm undecided now on what I want to do.

"It was just the right fit for me."

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Pennsbury has big goals this season

Before then, Popovich would love to see the Falcons win the Suburban One League National Conference title outright (they shared the title last year with North Penn) and make a run in the district playoffs.

"This is a great team to be a part of and I've been very lucky to have the teammates I've had," Popovich said.

A new teammate, in both field hockey and lacrosse, freshman Ryan Durdette, is following the path Popovich blazed.

"Ryan is one of my friends and she had never played field hockey or lacrosse before but I told her she should give it a try," Popovich said.

"And she ended up on varsity in field hockey and is on the junior varsity in lacrosse. I'm very proud of her."

McDonald hopes that more youngsters will take the same path.

"Mia's story helps inspire our freshmen," McDonald said. "They might not think they've very good, but seeing Mia and what she's done, gives them hope."

Drew Markol covers local sports for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Pennsbury's Popovich picked up lacrosse in no time and is thriving