Lacrosse

by Max E.

I believe in lacrosse.  

Lacrosse has taught me so much about myself and helped me in other areas of my life.  It has taught me the way of communication, the art of perseverance, the value of leadership, and the challenge of staying disciplined.  All of these aspects have made me who I am today and who I hope to become. 

Communication is key.  In lacrosse you have teammates and you all must be on the same page or else the other team will score.  Only through healthy communication can we hope to understand how we can help each other.  For instance, during a game you and your teammates should be able to communicate about how to get open on offense and how to cover on defense.  In the same way, at school you need to be able to communicate with others for doing a group project.  I strive for healthy communication in my life and lacrosse has helped me learn how to do this.  

Perseverance is an art to perfect.  I have learned that in lacrosse when you are tired you need to persevere through what you are feeling and push yourself forward.  In lacrosse after a goal there is a faceoff, which means a team can score again quickly.  So, you need to get your mind back into the game by persevering and win the next play.  When you face adversity in your day-to-day life you similarly have to persevere.  For instance, if you get a bad grade in math you should not let that get you down, but instead let it motivate you to do better next time.  I appreciate how persevering in lacrosse has taught me how to persevere elsewhere in my life. 

Leadership is important to me.  I have been a captain for my lacrosse teams and now even for the Sandy Spring baseball team.  What I love about being a leader and improving my leadership is how you can work with people to help them reach their goals and trust you.  The value of leadership shows up in my life in different ways I would not expect.   For example, my leadership shows up in the classroom when I am working on group projects or having a shadow for the day.  Leadership is something that I strive to develop.

Staying disciplined is a challenge.  Discipline is one of the most important and at the same time most difficult things you can do in sports and in life.  I play defense in lacrosse, and my coaches always say “Stay disciplined!”  What they mean is do not do anything too excessive or the other team might beat you.  Doing what you are supposed to do and not what you want to do in certain situations is a form of discipline.  For example, in school it might be more fun to go out and play basketball at lunch, but if you have an afternoon test you should study.  Your coaches and teachers can see how disciplined you are based on your actions.  In conclusion, stay disciplined. 

All of these aspects make me the person I am today.  But, I do not think any one of them is more important than any other one.  They are all things we should strive for as people.  Lacrosse has taught me so much and improved me in all these aspects.  I have been able to take what I have learned in lacrosse and extend it into my school and personal life.