The ‘GoPro, Sprongo, Lacrosse kid’

A USC lacrosse goalie, a content creator and NCAA Champion — it takes time and determination to be one of them, but to be all three simultaneously? To most, it is fantasy.

But to Kait Devir, it is a reality, one that started as a hobby in middle school.

Using her middle school allowance, Devir scrounged together enough money to buy a GoPro. In high school, her passion for editing overlapped with the sport she played since the fifth grade: lacrosse.

“I started using video editing — it was this app called ‘Sprongo’ — for ski-racing,” Devir said. “As I was exposed to watching video of my sport, I got really interested in just filming more.”

In ninth grade, she tried out for STEPS Elite, one of the most recognized programs in New Jersey. Her first task was to choose her position.

“I ended up choosing goalie that day, and I’m thankful that I did,” Devir said. “That club team was what made me fall in love with the sport. Having that first-hand, I knew that I needed that at the next level.”

After a successful career at Ridgewood High School, where she recorded over 100 saves, Devir was recruited by Boston College to play in one of the most prestigious lacrosse programs in the country.

At Boston College, Devir put her camera to work at The Heights, Boston College’s student-run newspaper.

Halfway through her freshman year, the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the world. Almost every aspect of college was shut down. Classes moved to the digital realm. Athletes played sports in empty venues. But Devir saw an opportunity. She saw the empty stadiums as a place to build her portfolio and photograph several sports no one else on the paper wanted to do.

“I would go shoot tennis, I would go shoot soccer, I would go shoot baseball,” Devir said. “I would shoot all the other sports that [the editors] didn’t want to shoot. I think that’s what made me so dynamic.”

The pandemic also cut her freshmen season short. But in 2021, Devir appeared in two games and made a save against Fairfield University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

When she wasn’t playing, Devir documented her team’s journey to the NCAA Lacrosse National Championship from Media Day to the team’s final victory over Syracuse.

“Just about every other travel weekend, I was vlogging,” Devir said. While on the road, “I learned a lot, I picked a lot of brains with social media managers and creative directors.”

Devir joined Athletes Unlimited, a women’s sports league, and propelled the company to new levels of exposure online. During Devir’s tenure, the company gained 40,000 new followers across Instagram and Twitter in eight months. Devir’s rapid rise leading up to her junior year led her to a more favorable market.

Devir’s destination would be USC, a school she dreamt to be at ever since she picked up her goalie stick.

“I visited USC back in the summer of eighth grade before they even had a village,” Devir said. “I always dreamed of going to the USC film school. I think that GoPro, Sprongo, ski-racing kid always wanted the USC film school. The ability to be in Los Angeles and be a content creator is so important for me. Just being here, I’ve grown so much as a content creator.”

At USC, she continues to vlog her life with the lacrosse team, posting game-day recaps, gear hauls and other behind-the-scenes content.

Devir also grew as a lacrosse player. In her junior year, Devir started in all but one game, ranked 26th in the NCAA with a Goals Against Average of 10.98 and earned two Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.

“She brings the energy,” said Devir’s teammate Ella Heaney. “She’s the most hardworking person on our team.”

This season, she has high expectations for her team and herself.

“I want our team to literally be the best us,” Devir said. “We have an insane amount of talent on this team, and people don’t talk about it much. For me, being an upperclassman, playing in that role of leadership is really big for me.”

So, what does the future hold for Devir? She says she wants to continue promoting women’s sports. But other than that, anything is fair game.

“Yes, I want to work for the NFL, but I also want to take the freelancer route and shoot a little bit of everything,” Devir said. “I also want to travel, and I have crazy fitness goals where I want to do Ironmans and Ultra Marathons. There’s not really much I don’t want to do. I’m just ambitious, and I want to fulfill the most out of my life.”