Inevitably, all athletes must play their last game. And as my lacrosse career slowly comes to a close (and I say slowly because after a big win this past weekend, the Lebanon Valley Men's lacrosse team keeps on moving right into the playoffs) I can't help but reflect upon what lacrosse really has meant to me.
I can remember playing tee-ball for one year. One year only, because I couldn't stand being still. If they put me in the outfield I would run in circles and play with random things I found or flowers. If they put me in the in field I ignored basic organized baseball strategy and ran to make every play instead of throwing. Also, I remember distinctly crying when I didn't get on base every time I was at bat. But overall, baseball didn't fit me. So like my older brother, I moved to lacrosse.
My first coach was named Fred Schlick. He coached me through most of my adolescent lacrosse career along with a slew of other fathers, most notably Mr. Farenchek, whose son played goalie with me for most of my life as well. Lacrosse was never a huge sport in Pennsylvania, and I guess part of me loved that about it. I made friends with kids at year round leagues and tournaments. I thought it was the coolest thing to know kids from all the different teams. It was a tight knit community. Really it still is. I can, specifically, remember playing for a team called "The Green Meanies" numerous times in my life. We used to go to this summer tournament every year for Fathers' Day weekend. Most of the time we got our butts kicked by the teams from New York, Virginia, Maryland. Places that have much more advanced lacrosse programs than us. I also remember we beat a Virginia team once, and that was just about the highlight of my career at about thirteen. The most notable difference between the kind of lacrosse us PA kids played versus the kind of lacrosse those kids from other states played was stick skills. Most of the people coaching us, with the exception of Coach Schlick, were not lacrosse players, usually just Dad's who graciously volunteered their time. Our strategy usually consisted of just trying to be better athletes, which worked against poorly coached teams, and failed miserably against well coached teams.
Fast forward a bit to High School lacrosse. My freshman year, my father was the coach. And despite the preconceived notions about what that would entail, I didn't start a single game that year. I didn't start a single game until the next season, when he was no longer coaching. My father, was no a lacrosse player. He was a coach of just about every other sport. So his plan, which worked through his 8 year career coaching at Boyertown, was to surround himself with coaches who were lacrosse players. Hilariously, his first year coaching was his least experienced and most successful. He took that team to a championship. But anyway, this story is about me.
My sophomore year I finally got to start. Mostly because the team was desperate for defensemen, but either way I played. We were mildly successful, but plagued with upper-classmen injuries and lacked a real leader.
Junior year was probably the most fun I had ever had playing lacrosse, I must say. That team I mentioned before, "The Green Meanies," essentially reunited that year. Matt Farenchak, Tyler Poley, Zach Richter, Matt Richter, Zach Teator and Jake Ridenour made up most of our teams starting line up. We were a pretty successful team and ended up making it to the Semi-Finals and losing 5-4 in overtime. Unfortunate, but still to this day, I have to say nothing was more fun than a full season with those guys.
College lacrosse, however was a whole different animal. Notice I left out my senior year. The supposed highlight year of any athletes high school career. That's because I didn't have one. Unfortunately, I tore my ACL in a winter indoor tournament and was unable to even play in a practice. I didn't take it well, to be honest. I am embarassed to say I abandoned my team after that. I couldn't handle it. I was content at the time calling it quits. I had recieved offers from a few division three schools and division two schools to play lacrosse. But I didn't think there would be any chance of me playing following an ACL tear. And that's when Lebanon Valley College entered into the equation.
It wasn't easy to return to the game I loved after suffering one of the worst injuries an athlete can endure. And I distinctly remember a conversation I had with my mom the day before the first day of practice when I told her I was afraid that I couldn't do it. And she told me to play the first week and see what happens. And I was fat (haha still am, just I was fatter then), slow and about 60% compared to my athletic abilities in high school. But the love for the game was there, and I have a feeling my mom knew that one minute back on the field was all it took.
Fast forward again, to last year, my junior year. That was the first year I started every game. I came back lighter, faster and stronger. I took what Coach Haus had told me and I used it to fuel my fire. I didn't let the fact I was too slow deter me. I got faster. Because I wanted to play. I refused to be kept off the field. It's not like I spent my life thin before this moment. I had been told by many coaches eventually I would need to be faster, or I wouldn't be successful. But I knew that my junior year was my biggest year. If I didn't play my junior year, how could a coach put a senior on the field with limited game experience, over a freshman with more potential and time to develop. He couldn't, so I made sure I was needed. This mentality helped me through to my senior year as well.
Which brings us to now. And to the title to the title of this post which is "My Last Lacrosse Game." I haven't had it yet. I know it's coming, and obviously every player's dream is to have their last game be a win in the biggest game of the year. And I will do my best to make sure that happens. But I also know that most people don't even get the opportunity I have. My team has currently clinched playoffs in our conference. There are seniors out there who have already taken their last faceoff, picked up their last groundball and scored their last goal. I bet there are seniors who regret the things they didn't do. I'm determined to make sure I'm not one of those seniors. I have embraced every single day of practice, every event, every game. And I think the guys on my team can attest to that. Lacrosse is the most important thing in my life most of the time, and much of the time to a fault. But My last lacrosse game, I can promise you, I won't regret anything. I don't know how to not play hard, because I know what its like to be told "you can't physically play." I have played every moment of the last four years with every part of me. My body, my heart, every part of me has been put into every moment. So when people say something like "leave it all out on the field" I think that's silly. It's a great sentiment for those guys who leave the field with regret because they look at that game and think, what could I have done before that day to be better. I should have lifted, I should have run or they blame others and say it's not fair. I won't be one of those guys because I know that every player on my team knows that I have left it all out on every day in the weight room, every run we've ever been on, every practice we've ever had and every scrimmage we've ever played. And I'm not the only one. But I can only speak for myself. I love this game, I love this team and I have loved every opportunity I have been given to play. I believe I am the best lacrosse player I will ever be, and it's because of every moment I didn't leave up to chance. And I will never regret that.
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