- 2019 Highlights #2
Personal Statement
In 2010, my family spent the Memorial Day weekend in Baltimore. In the hotel and on the street we saw all these kids carrying and twisting colorful sticks that had nets on the end. My brother and I had never seen anything like it. On Saturday morning, we had cut through a hotel on our way to Camden Yards. As we can down an escalator the sign read Duke Lacrosse Players Breakfast. My brother and I stopped and watched all the players leave. We were in awe of these taller, bigger boys all dressed in Duke team polos. I attended my first lacrosse camp that summer with a fiddle stick in my hand. The next year we returned to Baltimore for Memorial Day weekend with a ticket to the NCAA Lacrosse Tournament. From our hotel room, we could see a big group of people gathered across the street. On the television, we saw the Duke, Tufts, Johns Hopkins and Denver teams and they were right in front of our hotel! My brother and I ran to the hotel gift shop to buy sharpies and then across the street to get the players autographs on our tournament shirts and photos with the teams. Coach Danowski was standing to the side, so much taller than me. We waved and he called us over and asked if we played. We said we just started. He told us to "keep a stick in your hand." My first stick was purchased at that tournament, Reebok watermelon shaft with a watermelon head. Even though my stick has changed over the years it has still always been in my hand.
I love everything about the game of lacrosse and possibly like practicing even more. Although it makes me uncomfortable I've been complimented by referees and opposing coaches. A selfless player, I'll play anywhere I'm needed and lead a team anytime. While there is no I in team, there is a ME in team.
