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ABOUT ME
In 1980, at the early age of six, growing up on Long Island, New York, I was blessed and fortunate to be involved in sports thanks to my wonderful parents Roberta and Ronald. I was first introduced to the game of lacrosse after playing pee wee football. I remember getting my first lacrosse stick that Christmas. It seems like only yesterday I was running around playing lacrosse whenever and wherever I had the opportunity. I was able to channel my energy in a positive manner as well as make a lot of new friends. The game of lacrosse, above and beyond its physical attributes, has taught me many valuable life lessons and now it has molded me into the person I am today.
As I began to see a real genuine love for the sport at an early age, I kept practicing and playing on travel teams with kids a lot older than me. I was a lot smaller at the time, yet was able to be very successful on the field, due to my God given ability. In addition to my natural ability, was my desire and dedication to keep practicing my skills alone in my backyard, until it was dark. By the age of eleven, I really began to believe in my talent and see a future in this great game of lacrosse. I remember seeing my first professional lacrosse game and told my Dad after the game that I wanted to be a professional indoor lacrosse player in what was called at the time the Major Indoor Lacrosse League. This is what we know now as the National Lacrosse League. It was an action- packed, exciting game that I really fell in love with. It was my dream as a kid, and now as I enter my twelfth season in the National Lacrosse League, it has become a reality and dream come true to persevere and strive to the most elite level in this sport.
Obviously getting to this level wasn’t easy by any means, but my work ethic, commitment, and desire to be successful, l were always in the forefront of my mind. As I made my way through Sachem High School on Long Island graduating in 1992, I was able to really hone my skills and develop my physical and mental part of my game earning a scholarship to Division One Hofstra University under Head Coach John Danowski. It was a long, tough road to get to that point, but I knew I still had a lot of work ahead of me. Throughout my college experience, I gained valuable lessons both on and off the field studying Psychology. It was a great atmosphere to study, play a sport at such a high level, and be a big part of my team. After my four years at Hofstra University, I was able to walk away having played in two NCAA tournament playoff games, as well being named to the All America East team twice. I received all of these athletic accomplishments, and an outstanding education. It really was a great experience in so many ways, but I knew I still had a lot of hard work to do if I wanted to play in the National Lacrosse League.
At this point in my life in 1997, I was finished with school and hoping to get drafted in the NLL. The start of my dream coming true came from a phone call from then Head Coach Ron Fraser of the Boston Blazers. We talked for a while, and he told me that they were very interested in drafting me. Then on draft day they did just that, drafting me fourth overall in the first round. To people who know sports, most would think that being drafted that high would come with high fame and fortune. However, the only thing that guaranteed me was an invite to training camp to tryout and showcase my skills. In fact, I would be going up against some exceptional talent, not to mention guys who were bigger and stronger than me at the time. I accepted the challenge, and made the team appearing in two games as a rookie. This was extremely rare, especially as an American, since about 75% of the league is comprised of Canadians.
Furthermore, indoor lacrosse, also known as box lacrosse, is actually Canada’s national game. Most people assume it is hockey, but lacrosse it is. So, as I took on the challenge of learning a new style of lacrosse, it made me even hungrier to make a bigger impact the following year. The only thing was that I needed to gain more box lacrosse experience, and the only way I was able to do this was to play up in Canadian summer league circuit, what most players in the league do to stay sharp and in shape for the NLL.
