by Nathalie Sczublewski
The sun shone over McGuirk Stadium as the University of Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team took on George Mason on April 13th. The Minutewomen bench has a diverse group of girls. All from different backgrounds, some have freckles on their cheeks, others have dark hair and some have lighter hair. Then there is Kate and Anne Farnham, who are identical twins.
The Farnham sisters play defense for the women’s lacrosse team. In a recent interview, the girls say they enjoy being on a team together because they learn from each other.
“We can sense what each other is doing on the field,” said Anne Farnham. “We learn from watching each other.”
Kate and Anne Farnham were born on August 25, 1993, with Kate being older by two minutes, in Newton-Wellsley. The girls grew up in Andover, Mass. and fell in love with lacrosse at an early age.
“We’ve been playing since the third grade and we were on the same team. Our dad was our coach,” said A. Farnham.
The girls grew up in a household of lacrosse players. Their father, Mark and older siblings, Grace and Buddy played the sport.
When the Farnham twins were children, Kate felt the need to protect Anne because, “she was younger.”
“I was kind of like the protective older sister,” said Kate Farnham. “We just looked after each other.”
When looking for differences between the two girls, at a first glance it’s hard to tell. Kate is half-an-inch taller than Anne. The girls both have different personalities that close friends and family can read.
“Some people tell us, ‘oh, you look exactly alike and you talk alike,’” said K. Farnham.
“Over time you can definitely see the differences and our faces,” said A. Farnham.
The sisters decided to attend UMass together to be part of the same Division-1 team as well as making the college transition more comfortable by being roommates. They do everything together from shopping trips, to eating meals together, to working at a seafood restaurant on the Cape over the summers (with the same hours) and of course, playing lacrosse.
“We always went through the same recruiting process and when we were growing up, we knew we wanted to go to the same college and play together,” said K. Farnham. “We have a special bond since we played in every grade together. We know where each other is on the field.”
The twins both agreed that the theory of twin telepathy exists between them. Both girls said that they can feel each other’s feelings when they are out on the field playing lacrosse. Kate explains that if she sees Anne crying, she would cry too even if she has no idea what her sister is upset about.
“We’re with each other all the time and we just know how we are,” said A. Farnham.
The Farnham sisters are both proud they play lacrosse at UMass and are still roommates after 20 years. The girls may spend most their time together, but they do have their separate private lives.
“It’s like having a constant best friend and it helps being away from home. It helps with the [college] process,” said K. Farnham.
Nathalie Sczublewski can be contacted at [email protected]