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A Fox in the Hen House

I have always appreciated and enjoyed men’s lacrosse. When I moved to the East Coast, my mom signed me up for a boys’ lacrosse camp (we didn’t know any better coming from Seattle – there was only boy’s lax at the Catholic schools, and no girl’s lax to speak of). I then made the switch to girls lacrosse in high school, played through college, and I am now coaching at Manhattan College.

However, I have always wanted to get back to my “lacrosse roots.” I played the occasional pick up game with friends from high school, ran a couple of shifts at Cape Ann for a friend’s team, and that’s about it – until the ULAX box league in NYC provided a new outlet!

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into our first game at Stanley Isaacs Park. I was nervous, but really excited. I borrowed shoulder and arm pads from my friend’s younger brother, and took the throat guard off my back up helmet. I play in gloves and with a men’s stick at practice to shoot on the goalies, so I wasn’t concerned about my stick work.

When I arrived, I signed in and got my jersey with very little hassle. I credit this to my sweatsuit and recent haircut – chopped my hair off and donated it to Locks of Love – rocking a pseudo-Justin Bieber/Abby Wambach hair cut.

I tossed my equipment on and mostly watched for the first period. I wanted to get a sense for the game; both its pace and flow. I certainly had some pre-game butterflies, but I was totally at ease once I stepped out of the box and onto the floor. I don’t remember much of the game… but this tends to happen to me.

At the end of the day I know this much: I set some hard picks, got laid out (it was clean), and scored a goal. Overall, a very entertaining and satisfying Saturday afternoon. I’m excited to see how the rest of the season with Team LaxAllStars plays out, literally and figuratively.

Laid out three steps later… worth it!

Some other thoughts on box lacrosse: 

  1. I wish that the game was more open to women. Not in a sense of “let’s get some equality up in this joint” but “let’s play an aggressive sport and be adults about it.” There are inherent risks of playing a sport like box lacrosse. I got laid out in my game, but you don’t see me crying about it. I picked myself up, brushed off, and got on with the game. I would love to see more women come and “hang with the boys” so to speak. Maybe this would help break the illusion that women aren’t tough…
  2. Box goalies are no joke. They aren’t just plugging the net, and I admire them. I would like to try that next.
  3. I am most certainly making my kids play box lax; build some character and stick handling skills before they hit the field.

Until next weekend…