The 2012 season is here and we wanted to work closely with college programs to bring a part of the excitement to you. Throughout the 2012 season we will highlight lacrosse programs on our space for all of our readers to follow. Player blogs serve as a unique outlet for programs to showcase their season as it develops, plus highlight everything they have to offer a student-athlete. In contrast, families and fans get a glimpse into the program’s athletic and academic regimen.
Connor Cole
Howard University Lacrosse
Blog #1
Classes began a month ago for Howard University students, which meant practices began as well for all the athletes. This is my first year at HU, coming from a New Jersey high school powerhouse (Bridgewater-Raritan, NJ) it’s been a really tough adjustment for me to be at a school that doesn’t support their lacrosse team. The team is entirely funded by the players; we pay for everything, Balls, goals, equipment, Uniforms, field time, referees, league fees, and more.
That being said, we have been blessed with an unusually warm winter that has made it much easier to get out and play. The hardest part about getting the season off on the right foot has been getting enough kids to play, its no secret there aren’t a ton blaxers out there. The NCAA’s motto “We’ll be going pro in something other than sports” is more true here than anyone else. All the students recognize how blessed they are to have the opportunity to go to college, so a lot of times we’ll have to run a practice with only a dozen kids because everyone is too busy with school work. Even though I usually have zero tolerance for kids skipping practice, I can understand when school becomes too overwhelming having just applied for a masters program myself.
We had our first game this past weekend versus American University; although we lost 6-2 (last year we were blown out 16-1), everyone considered this a moral victory considering what we’d overcome this preseason, but I was still pissed. I took some solace in the fact that I played pretty well and kept us in it with 14 saves and cleared the ball pretty good. I was also impressed by the effort everyone put in, we definitely did not get out hustled and everything was left on the field.
Practice this week is going to be mentally tough; we have a ton to go over in two practices before we have a round robin next weekend with George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Stay posted for the next blog; we’re going to hand this privilege off to a new person week by week, to whoever works hardest in practice or made a big impact on game day.
If anyone wants to find out more about the club (or is interested in donating) you can get in touch with us at Connoroneillcole@gmail.com.
