One of the more inspiring examples of
sportsmanship to which I’ve been a party was actually a series of events,
specifically a series of dinners that brought strangers together.
Each year during spring
break my high school lacrosse team would travel out of state for a few scrimmages
before our season began back in Minnesota. I traveled to both Colorado and New
York on these team trips. On each trip we would set up in a certain part of the
state where we had arranged to play several local teams and would play nearly
every day during our week-long stay.
In addition to the
hard-fought scrimmages with each team, we would have a dinner for both teams
provided by the parents or school of the local team. I was both humbled by the
generosity, because it is no small task to prepare and serve dinner to 50-some
tired, sweaty, hungry teenage boys.
In my experience,
lacrosse has always had a stronger sense of community and fraternity than the
other sports I played growing up, and that was borne out in the generosity of
these lacrosse communities that hosted our team. It was also evidenced in how
quickly we took to talking, joking and laughing with the team we had just
battled on the field.
I remember at Yorktown
high school in New York how at one of the long tables our two teams were
indistinguishably intermingled and engaged in animate conversation, even though
half an hour earlier two players from each team had exchanged some significant
body checks.
I also remember playing
nearby John Jay high school in a fog so thick I had no idea what was happening
anytime our offense brought the ball past midfield and then learning the
ins-and-outs of NYC from our opponents after the game.
From our time in
Colorado, I remember eating with the Kent Denver team when our coach, who is originally from Colorado,
learning that a friend he met on a travelling team still lived in the same
house and his son attended the school.
I could go on, but
suffice it to say these meals were rewarding experiences and embodied a
sportsmanship that ought to be at the heart of all athletics, especially at the
youth and high school levels.
By: Christian Myers
Notre Dame Club Lacrosse Secretary
Social Foundations of Coaching Student, Education Schools and Society at Notre Dame
Social Foundations of Coaching Student, Education Schools and Society at Notre Dame
