Lacrosse – My passion
Lacrosse is more than just a game to me, it’s my passion. Whether it’s shooting around during practice, playing in games, instructing young players at camps or clinics, working on my strength and conditioning, or just hanging out with my buddies, lacrosse is a core part of my life every day.
Through my commitment to teaching young players the fundamental skills and strategies required to play lacrosse at a higher level, as well as the importance of respecting the tradition and legacy of the game, my aim is to spread my love for lacrosse and help to grow the fastest game on two feet nationwide.
How it all began for me
I was lucky enough to be introduced to lacrosse when I was away at summer camp when I was six years old. I immediately took to the game, and since that summer lacrosse has been a huge part of my life. As soon as I returned home I got my first lacrosse stick as a birthday gift (which I still have today!), and I haven’t stop playing since. Sure, I played other sports, and excelled at a few, including soccer and football, and I even ran track competitively. I really enjoyed these other sports, but nothing appealed to me as much as the tradition and action of lacrosse.
Commitment to excellence
I quickly came to appreciate that lacrosse is indeed the fastest game on two feet. I also quickly came to understand that it’s also a sport that requires a great deal of commitment and hard work. Mastering stick and ball handling skills took endless hours of practice, cradling, shooting on goal, as well as plenty of time shooting against that large brick wall in the school yard. Developing the strength and stamina to play a full 60 minutes, or more if necessary, on both offense and defense, required lots of time in the gym lifting weights and running. And gaining insight into the finer points of lacrosse strategy meant watching hours of game tapes, listening to my coaches at Hewlett, and watching the older guys on my teams. Being committed also meant treating my body right, watching what and how much I ate. It also meant staying focused in school and challenging myself with tough coursework.
All my hard work paid off big time as I was able to excel at the game that I love. The accolades for my on-field performance started early and kept coming throughout high school, and I am, of course, quite proud of those accomplishments. At the same time, I did pretty well in school and on college entrance exams, and so ensured that the combination of my lacrosse credentials and my classroom performance got the doors open at the most prestigious universities in the country.
Choosing Cornell
It’s hard enough to decide which colleges to consider when you get toward the end of high school, and it’s even harder when the choices you’re presented with are plenty. Based on my achievements on and off the field in high school, I was broadly recruited by the top lacrosse programs in the country and found myself pretty confused. Some colleges offered me significant scholarships, others offered the opportunity to get into the most coveted programs the universities offered. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to visit many of the schools during the summer between my junior and senior years and to meet many of the coaches. This was an incredible experience and one I would recommend to any aspiring player. I wanted to have a pretty good idea of the school I was going to and whether I would enjoy being there even if lacrosse didn’t work out.
This process allowed me to edit my list of preferred choices – I eliminated some schools because they didn’t offer the undergraduate programs I was interested in, I put others aside because I felt that they wouldn’t challenge me academically as much as I wanted them to, some were too far or too difficult to get to from home, some wanted decisions too quickly when I wasn’t ready to commit, and others didn’t exhibit the kind of competitive lacrosse I was aiming for. After cutting the list down to four – three Ivies and one ACC – my process turned more to lacrosse. I wanted to get to know the coaches a bit better, understand the programs, and importantly, meet the guys who would be my teammates. While I felt some pressure to make a decision as many other recruits had made their decisions as early as July, I stuck to my plan. Visiting the schools once they were back in session proved to be invaluable, and shortly thereafter, in late September I committed to Cornell.
In the end, Cornell proved to be the right choice for me. Academically it was a great match as I got into the AEM program (undergraduate business), and Cornell lacrosse was known to be very competitive. In the end it came down to the coaching staff and the guys on the team. I immediately gained respect for Coach Tambroni when he visited our home and spoke to my parents and me about the way in which he ran the program. Unlike a number of others who made promises about playing time, Coach T made it very clear that while he thought I was among the most talented players he was recruiting, I would have to earn my spot on the team just like everyone else through hard work and commitment both on and off the field. He also won me over with the description of the Cornell lacrosse family and how involved alumni and parents were in the program. And finally, after spending a weekend in Ithaca with the team I knew that these guys had “bought into” Coach T’s philosophy and that I would really enjoy being part of this team. Cornell had one other thing going for it, my sister Amanda had just started there as a freshman and the thought of sharing the college experience with her was very appealing.
Becoming a better player as well as a better person
Choosing Cornell turned out to be the best decision I could have made. My four years in Ithaca were nothing short of spectacular, both on and off the field. Every kid arriving at college to play a sport dreams of the opportunities that lie ahead and the way in which he can make an impact on his team. Well, my dreams certainly came true. I got to start as a freshman playing alongside some of Cornell’s greats, I played in every game throughout my four years, earned four Ivy League Championship rings, made the NCAA playoffs each year, the Final Four twice, and the Championship game in my senior year. And along the way I collected a few records and a bunch of awards and accolades I could have only dreamed of four years earlier. Being named team tri-captain as a junior and sole captain in my senior year will always be my proudest moments, particularly since I followed in the footsteps of so many great Big Red leaders. On top of that, I earned a Bachelor of Science from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with a Degree in Applied Economics and Management, ready to tackle the world. I obviously have my coaches, trainers, teammates, and advisers to thank for their guidance and support.
Being a full-time Ivy League student and playing for a disciplined, demanding and elite lacrosse program proved to be a terrific learning experience for me. It taught me to make a MAXIMUM commitment to everything I did and to put forth a MAXIMUM effort, be it in the gym with the strength and conditioning coach, on the field during practice with my team, during my individual workouts and practices, during a game, in the classroom and in preparation for exams. I also learned to balance my time, prioritize my responsibilities, and probably most importantly, how to remain humble. Playing lacrosse also taught me a great deal about respecting tradition, giving back to your team, your sport, your school, your community. In short, lacrosse has had an enormous impact on the person I’ve become, the strength of my character and the confidence with which I live every day of my life.
The lacrosse fraternity
On the field, lacrosse is one of the most exciting, intense, and beautiful games to be a part of. And to those of us who’ve played the game for some time, we have come to understand that the lacrosse world is something special, truly a fraternity. We grow up playing with and against each other and if we are lucky enough to continue playing at the college level and beyond, we end up playing against our former teammates and alongside some of our old rivals, all with the common goal of becoming the best we can be together. What’s unique about the sport is that after the game is over and we leave the competition behind on the field, we share a mutual respect for one another and a common love for the game.
I have made more friends than I can count through lacrosse. From PAL teams and camps, travel teams, summer and winter leagues, middle and high school, college and the pro teams, I’ve met guys from all over the United States, Canada and Australia. And through it all, I have developed great friendships with players from both my teams and those who wear uniforms of the opposing ones, with coaches who I played for and against, as well as with other lacrosse players both older and younger than me who I have never even shared the same field with at the same time. All of this just because we share a common bond, because the lacrosse community is a fraternity.
