I am the middle of 3 brothers. I feel fortunate that I have an older brother that I always want to strive to surpass in talent and a younger brother that I can be a role model for. Striving to be better in lacrosse than my older brother, worked in my favor. My lacrosse career started when I was 7 years old. My dad had bought home some beginner sticks for all of us from Dick's Sporting Goods and enrolled us in the local recreation teams. Back then, lacrosse was the fastest growing sport in Florida. At first, I loved lacrosse because it gave me the opportunity to spend time my with dad. However. I truly fell in love with lacrosse when my mom bought family season tickets for the 2014 inaugural season through 2016 MLL Florida Launch. I saw Cassie Powell cook defenders and shoot some insane shots. I saw him play in his last game before his retirement. I met the Thompson brothers, Lyle and Miles and I loved their lacrosse journey. I met Duncan Clancy, an attackman for Florida Launch, who is now one of my varsity coaches and mentor. Getting to meet some of the greatest players to ever play in the sport of Lacrosse, spawned my goal to become a lacrosse great.
I was in Middle school when I realized that talent wasn’t just born of desire or luck, but hard work. I decided I wanted to be the best at whatever I put my energy into. Not just with Lacrosse but academically too. I earned the top 5% of my class and voted Student Class President. However, becoming the best midfielder was harder, but it just made me want it more. In high school I adopted Andrew Carnegie's quote of "Anything in life worth having is worth working for." as my mantra. It has served me well. I am still in the top 5% of my class, active in student council and now a newly inducted member of the National Honor society. I have learned to make the best of obstacles and see them as opportunities. This past varsity season was no exception. My head coach, Peter Cordrey, felt I could best serve our team as defensive middie as we had a deep offensive line but a shallow defense. I suspected he also saw how I could benefit personally as well. Quietly, I was crushed as I knew this meant I wouldn't get to play much offense but understood that with my height and strength it made sense that I needed to fill this void. I adopted the attitude that I was given the opportunity to increase my defensive skills while doing what was best for the team. In practice I gave it my all, earning the 'sledgehammer' award several times, an award given out at every practice for that player who worked the hardest. I diligently worked on my approaches, agility, and speed against the starting attack and midfielders. I learned a lot. Outside of practice I continued to work on offense with Coach Duncan Clancy and in the gym to get stronger. Now that the season is over, Coach Cordrey has approached me about transitioning to two-way middle next year. I am currently looking forward to my summer travel season, playing as two-way middie again, with my newly strengthened defensive skills, bigger size and speed.
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