Many lacrosse fans are familiar with the sport’s alternate name: The medicine game. While most lacrosse fans will never witness this form of the game (typically played in some Native American communities), a similar version has been adopted in special circumstances when the lacrosse community needs some form of healing. This past Sunday was one such situation as players, coaches, and fans from around greater Boston came together to remember the passing of local sports writer, Bruce Lerch, who lost a difficult battle with cancer earlier in the week.
Bruce is someone who I never personally met, but his name is one that became synonymous with lacrosse is Eastern Massachusetts, where I currently reside. Shortly after relocating to Massachusetts, I started researching the local lacrosse scene (as one does, of course!) and I learned about Bruce Lerch quickly.
On Twitter, Bruce was the one who seemingly every local team would tag as they reported scores during and after each game. He was behind many of the lacrosse articles published by the Boston Herald, but also worked as a freelancer for several other outlets. Bruce Lerch covered all levels of the game from high school up to the Boston Cannons and was even a voter in the NCAA Lacrosse Media Poll.
What makes this even more remarkable is that he was not just a lacrosse writer. Through his work with the Herald, he also closely covered High School football, hockey, and other sports as needed. Even in his last few days, his Twitter feed was dominated by news from High School football. I’m sure he also had every plan in the world of spending the winter roaming hockey arenas before the lacrosse season began. This is just more evidence for what makes lacrosse such a special sport. Even though Bruce did so much more than just lacrosse, the lacrosse community took him in as one of their own.
When he first announced that he was beginning his fight with cancer, the amount of support was almost overwhelming. Not only were individual tweets and Facebook posts being sent to him, but entire teams were sending photos of themselves in the offseason holding signs of support.
Once his passing was announced, a scholarship fund in his name was started, and plans were made for a memorial pick-up lacrosse game, open to all ages and levels, just like Bruce Lerch.
Bruce Lerch – A Game To Remember
On what turned out to be a perfect day, at least 70 players showed up, with even more supporters packing the sidelines. There were enough players there to run two full field games with plenty of subs. People filtered in and out as the games went on, and it was a great congenial atmosphere. There was a sense on the field that people were not there playing for themselves. It was a light-hearted game where the goal was truly just to play more than making a competition out of it.
When half time rolled around, all the players gathered at the middle of one field. Dan Brothers, a local coach who was a friend of Bruce said a few words and then introduced the Lerch family. They were blown away by the show of support in front of them. His sister may have stated it best when she said how they knew one side of Bruce, but never truly knew about the impact he had on so many people.
The games were being played as a way for the lacrosse community to mourn the loss of one of their members and begin the healing process. Brothers summed up the day perfectly in his talk at halftime: “We’re going to have to get used to the idea of not having Bruce on the sidelines this spring, and today is the start of that“.
All the stories I ever heard always mentioned how Bruce wasn’t writing for his own success, but how he made stars of those who may have otherwise gone unnoticed. The players that took the field in his name showed that they also noticed him back.
