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Connor Ray
Dr. Fielding
WRTC 103
1/27/16

Being a Lacrosse Player

When moving around to different schools and when like my life constantly
changing around me, there has always been one constant, lacrosse. Whenever I
think back on my happiest memories lacrosse is almost always part of it. Being a
lacrosse player, has affected my behaviors by making me realize that in order for a
group to succeed everyone must be comfortable with their roles. As a lacrosse
player my life goals changed. Instead of only focusing on my own personal success,
I started to involve myself in larger groups that way I would have someone to share
that success with. I have self-confidence, a sense of purpose and belonging, selfless,
know how a productive member of a much larger group because I am a lacrosse
player.
Lacrosse is a team sport that was invented by the Native Americans. The
original version of lacrosse was much more physically grueling then the modern
version. The Six Nations of Iroquois in upper New York were the main Native
American tribes that played lacrosse. (Burton N.P) One of the main purposes of the
original version was to practice for war, since the playing field was miles long and
each team had hundreds of players. In fact, other tribes across North America that
played a similar game called it Little Brother of War. Other purposes of the game
besides practicing for war was to play to make the Creator, their version of God,
happy. This reason is why lacrosse means so much to the Native American because
it is basically a religion for them. Other tribes, such as the Cherokee, played the

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game, preformed rituals, danced after playing. The first modern lacrosse games
occurred in 1794 when the Seneca and Mohawk tribes played each other.
As long as you played lacrosse, it will always stick with you. I was originally
part of this group because my dad signed me up for a local club team in 7 th grade,
but after that I fell in love with the game so it was completely my choice to keep
playing for the rest of middle school and high school. To some extent I was born into
the group because my dad played when he was in middle and high school and
lacrosse is by far one of the most popular sports in Maryland. For Native Americans,
most of them are born into the group. The Native American families typically give
their new born child a lacrosse stick. (Lacrosse, N.P.) The rituals that I practiced by
being a lacrosse player were sometimes physically grueling but I loved every
second. My favorite rituals were the 2 hour practices every single day and hour in
half bus rides at 8 at night after away games. The reason why they were my favorite
wasnt because of the physical activity but it was the time I got to spend with my
friends. Some of the negative aspects of being a lacrosse player is the
stereotypes that most people tend to associate with it. When some people think
about a lacrosse player they tend to think rich, private school kids. Also, since
lacrosse is still developing into popular sport in other parts of the country, the only
times it gets mentioned on the national stage is when it is involved with something
terrible.
My roles as a player has changed several times. At first I was a starter and
captain of my JV team. As a starter my coaches and teammates expected me to
play to the best of my abilities no matter how we were playing or what the playing
conditions were. In order to meet those expectations, I had to have almost a
complete knowledge of the playbook to know to react in almost every single

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situation, keep calm, not to let the situation get to big for me, and to make sure my
teammates dont do anything stupid on the field. One problem that arose that
prevented me from meeting those exceptions was the amount of nerves and fear I
had of messing up. It was my first high school game and it seemed like I was
messing up every single pass and shot. I even started to trip over myself whenever I
started to run. However, after what seemed like 2 hours, the first quarter ended and
my older teammates told me not to worry about what just happened. Just by
hearing that I calmed down. It almost seemed like my nerves were completely gone.
I started to play normally, relaxed, started to have fun playing again, and ended up
finishing the game with two goals. That game caused my confidence to grow. After
each game I was more confident in my ability to play well. This confidence carried
over to other aspects of my life such as talking in front of large crowds, and doing
school work. Along with my new found confidence, I also gained a sense of purpose
and belonging.
The first time my role change as a player changed was my junior year when I
was now on the varsity team. Being on varsity was the first time were I didnt get a
decent amount of playing time. So my role changed from a starter to a
benchwarmer. Initially, I reacted poorly to this change. I started to resent the people
who were actually playing because I felt that I should be playing and felt that I was
better than the people actually playing. This caused a lot of tension on the team,
every time someone messed up during a game or practice it was quickly followed
by 5 or 7 backhanded complements. When I did receive any playing time I became
extremely critical of myself every time I made a mistake. Midway thought the
season I was tired of the infighting and somehow hating the sport I once loved. To
try to fix this problem I started to think about my role and realized that since I was

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part of a team and the more I focused on myself and only on myself, the more I was
hurting the team. I started accept my role as a benchwarmer, which actually was
fun once I started to accepted it. Once I accepted it, other people started to follow.
The infighting stopped and the team started to play extremely well. Some of my
roles were the same I still had to know the playbook in case any one of the starters
got hurt and had to keep calm whenever the games got really intense. The ways my
role changed was that I had to be more supportive of other people, make sure the
water bottles were filled all the time, and the bench stayed warm even in the
hashish of weather. Accepting my new role showed that in order for a team to
function correctly every member was to accept their role and that I am not always
the best thing for every situation.
The second time my role changed was my senior year; instead of being a full
time benchwarmer like I was the previous year I was a role player that actually
received decent playing time. After 3 years of playing, I think this role was the best
fit for me. The expectations I now had to meet were a mixture of my two previous
roles. I still had to play well when needed, have a good understanding of the
playbook and keep the water bottles filled to the brim. With this new role, the
interactions with my teammates were great from the beginning; the infighting we
once had was long gone.
That year was also the first time I started to notice the lacrosse player
stereotype I started to follow. I had long hair and wore shorts no matter the weather.
I found those stereotypes by observing my teammates and noticing now common
our physical appearances were. This really didnt affect me personally; it was just
strange to notice how similar we looked just because we played the same sport.
Being a lacrosse player has definitely impacted the ways I interact with other

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people. I had friends in high school that were also benchwarmers when I was on JV
and always thought they were awful and wondered why they wasted their time
sitting on a bench, but after my junior year I realized that there is much more to
their situation and that I shouldnt be so quick to judge. Being a lacrosse player has
never really caused me to be excluded from other groups; it was always fun
pretending to have fake beef with the baseball team.
Lacrosse means putting yourself and your goals to the side in order to help
the team achieve something bigger than I could on my own. It also means you
understand the history of the game and the meaning behind it. Even when you
dont feel like you are playing for anything important, you are playing a game that
has been a North American tradition since the 1600s. Lacrosse has taught me to
have confidence in myself even when things get off to a rough start. It has given me
a sense of purpose and, that in order to have success and be happy with your
current situation you have to be willing to change.

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This selfie was taken

January 29, 2016. The
impression that is conveyed
by this picture is that my
lacrosse stick is always with
me.

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Citations
Newton, David E. "Lacrosse." The Gale Encyclopedia of Fitness. Ed. Jacqueline L. Longe. Vol. 1.
Detroit: Gale, 2012. 513-518. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 22 Jan. 2016.

Lacrosse." World of Sports Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale,
2007. 435-437. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 Jan. 2016.