The lacrosse community lost a good one last weekend, and players worldwide have been raising threes ever since. Robby Schartner, a junior attack/midfielder at Manhattanville College, was walking back to campus around 5AM Sunday morning when he was struck and killed by a drunk driver.
A funeral mass was held for Robby on Wednesday, where hundreds of family and friends showed up in support.
IN HIS THREE YEARS AS A MEN’S LACROSSE PLAYER ROBERT EARNED HIS SPOT ON THE TEAM THE HARD WAY. IT WAS NOT EASY FOR HIM, BUT THE SACRIFICES HE MADE INSPIRED THE TEAM AND EPITOMIZED WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AT MANHATTANVILLE.
THE LEVEL OF ROBERT’S COMMITMENT TO HIS TEAM COULD NEVER COME INTO QUESTION; WHATEVER HE WAS ASKED TO DO, HE DID WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE. THAT WAS HIS UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A TRUE TEAMMATE. HE LOVED THE SPORT OF LACROSSE, HE LOVED HIS TEAMMATES AND HE LOVED BEING A MANHATTANVILLE LACROSSE PLAYER. … WE ARE ALL IN SHOCK AND WE EXTEND OUR PRAYERS AND CONDOLENCES TO HIS FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS.
– President Michael Geisler, Ph.D
Manhattanville College
By the time the news of Robby’s tragic death reached social media on Monday, a cause had been formed in his honor and the #TeamThree hashtag was born. Following the lead of the Valiants lacrosse team and assistant coach Owen Blye on Instagram, players from all over the globe joined together to show support by posting photos of themselves raising threes and spreading awareness about what had occurred.
In just four days alone, 253 people have donated $16,918 to Schartner’s GoFundMe campaign.
The lacrosse community has been pouring out support because of Robby’s commitment to lacrosse and his team at Manhattanville College. #TeamThree has been started to raise awareness about Rob’s senseless death in the lacrosse community and beyond to raise awareness around drunk driving.
– Schartner’s sister, Nicole Byfuglin (as told to The Journal News)
It’s been inspiring to observe how quickly members of the lacrosse community – especially coaches, teams and players – have responded to show support and honor Robby Schartner. The photos below are just a handful of the many #TeamThree messages of support shared on Instagram and other social media. See more here, and please consider joining #TeamThree by sharing your own post or contributing to the GoFundMe campaign.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Schartner Family.
Raising Threes for Robby Schartner
