Jamie Ortega is Inside Lacrosse's 2020 North Carolina National Team Player of the Year. She has started designing her own clothing line in Epoch.

Last month, Jamie Ortega, a fifth-year senior at the University of North Carolina, signed one of the earliest and most famous names, images and portrait deals for all college women's lacrosse players. She formed a partnership with Epoch, a technology-integrated lacrosse apparel and equipment company, and became the female ambassador for its brand.

Ortega and teammate Katie Hoeg were selected to the All-American First Team three times, and was named the 2020 National Team Player of the Year. Her 265 career goals are the most in the history of the University of North Carolina, and she ranks ninth in the NCAA first-level lacrosse game. As a native of Long Island, her sister Nicky played at the University of Notre Dame, Ortega also had 88 assists, and her 353 points ranked fifth in ACC history. She graduated from Centereach High School with 588 points (402 goals and 186 assists), the highest in New York State's history.

When choosing her first NIL transaction. ..

When NIL passed last summer, I remember it exploded. This is a bit overwhelming. You see some athletes get good deals, and then you think,'As a women's lacrosse player, how can I use myself, my platform, and build a brand? Lacrosse is a big sport, but it's not that big compared to basketball, football, football-all these other sports. 

Several companies contacted me. I have always been interested in working with a lacrosse company. As a sponsor of Jamie Ortega, she always wanted to work for a lacrosse company and decided, “Why not start being a student now What about the athletes?" They. This has always been my plan after graduating from university. As a student athlete, why not start now? With Epoch, I have known them for a while. They have been sponsoring UNC-I think this is their fourth year-I have always known CEO James, and then I can meet the team. 

They came several times and showed us their products, videos we shot with them, exchanged emails with them, talking about products, what we like and what we don't like. So I have established a relationship with them. When they stretched out their hands, it was a pleasure to meet them and get along well with them. I really want to keep my choice, I really want to find the company that suits me best. Epoch is very suitable for me and what I want to do. 

They don't just ask me to use their platform and show everything about Epoch. They are also interested in myself, what I want to do and my brand-it's almost like we are partners while building our own business. So, I think this is really unique, not just one of the 10 girls sponsored by other companies. I specifically became their first female athlete, and I think this is of great value and importance to me. They want to build a business. They want to build my brand. They want me to succeed and see what I am interested in. When I have a clothing line, I will open clinics and camps at my headquarters in Minnesota. I think it is so unique and different from all other companies I have heard of, so I think choosing Epoch is a breeze. "

About the history of Epoch and UNC. .. 

Since the sophomore year, our team has been sponsored by Epoch, so I have been using their heads and shafts for some time. This is the stick I have used for almost my entire career. I like it. They launched a 10 degree purpose head, I have been using 15 degrees, so they are creating new products that are cool because I am still a student athlete here, so I can use them to play with them in the university. The best performance.

We used to be with STX, so later came to Epoch-it is easier to break the mind, more comfortable, and, as I said, we have been in direct contact with the Epoch team. So it’s cool to tell them what we like, what we don’t like, what we like more next time or what they’re launching. It is exciting to have this kind of connection and dialogue.

About creating your own clothing line. ..

When they talked to me for the first time, they were one of the only companies [who] liked, "Furthermore, you can provide clothing, you can use supplements, or other different product lines. They really pushed it to me, and I was like, "Oh, wow." I never even thought about it before they talked to me about it. I like it. It's so exciting, being creative like this, and designing my own product line. So in the past few weeks, I have been creating a dream board, such as a Pinterest creative board for clothing, whether it's lifestyle or more sportswear. I sent it and my thoughts on colors, maybe the Carolina series. So they are designing mock clothes for me to see and try on. Ortega celebrated a lot of points and scored 265 goals in her college career. This is the most goals in the history of the University of North Carolina and the ninth in the history of the NCAA Division I.

About UNC's exercise science. ..

Last year, we used Whoop in a study-my team-which was really cool. I like the way it tracks your sleep. I think it's interesting to know when you are actually in the REM cycle and when you are awake. You can also see the difficulty of straining during exercise, conditioning, or weightlifting. This technology is so new and interesting, so it's cool to learn more about yourself as an athlete. 

Then we use GPS every day and every practice. I have been using it since my freshman year, so now it has become a part of me, just put it in our GPS bra and run with it. But it’s also nice to see our maximum speed, how many miles we ran in practice, and compare it with autumn, winter, and spring to see how they change.

About her studies at UNC. ..

I am a communications major. I have a coach to educate minors. I've always been interested in coaching—maybe at high school or elementary school level, or college level—but I'm also interested in communication and marketing. So this is learning how to build your own brand and become part of the business. I have eaten it up-I like this. This is really cool, especially social media-very interested in it. Therefore, participating in this process with NIL and Epoch gave me a better experience of understanding this type of world.

Before she started hockey. ..

My father was the one who let me play lacrosse with my sister. He wandered between hockey or lacrosse, so a friend who worked with him said,'Oh, I just let my daughter participate in the Lacrosse Youth League, which is kind of new. My father was like, "Oh, lacrosse," and then started searching on Google and entered it, understood it and really liked it. It is him and another person who manage our youth league for my town. 

Since the second grade, I have been learning lacrosse. This is a very new sport-not many towns do it-but on Long Island, lacrosse is a strong point there. It will certainly spread quickly. It's cool to play with my sister. She ended up playing lacrosse at the University of Notre Dame, so we grew up together, played lacrosse together, studied together, played ball together. The only lacrosse stick Ortega has used since his sophomore year was Epoch.

About her desire for professional hockey. ..

I definitely want to participate in the [Athletes Unlimited] professional league. Just looking at it from the side, I think it's great. I like the way people are selected, and I think it’s really cool to play with different people every week. And you often play. It’s not like you’re just playing a game. If you don’t have as much playing time, you’re done—everyone is playing it. You play a lot of games, play with new friends, and meet new friends.

I am really excited to participate in the competition this summer, and I think it will be very, very interesting. And I think many girls in my college years might also play. Then, wishing to join the American team has always been a dream, and may even participate in the Olympics. So this is always a bigger goal, above all else.

The player she imitated in this sport. ..

My style, I want to say, I don't want to say "basic", I might say "stable and fast". Over the years, I have been following Taylor Cummings, Shannon Smith, Mary McCool, Ali Messinger and other players. They played very calmly-but fast and combative-I think I am trying to maintain this state. I am a dodger, I am a shooter. So this is very important to my game and can help me to stand out from the crowd. 

Speed ​​is very important in a lacrosse game, no matter where you are, so this is something I try and really focus on. I am not a flashy player. I stick to the basic shooting posture, focus on simple fake moves and movements, and only do simple things that are useful to me. It's like the old days: "This is what I learned, and I always carry it with me." Sometimes I throw BTB [behind], but this is not my specialty. It is also very important to stay calm and calm, because the second I am not, and then things will become chaotic and not going well. It's not pretty, you know?

Photo credit: Epoch Lacrosse (Ortega pose); Patrick Smith/Getty Images (Ortega with the ball); Patrick Smith/Getty Images (Celebrating her goal); Patrick Smith/Guy Photo Agency (surrounded by sticks)

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