Scoops Lacrosse was born out of a total dad fail the winter of 2017. At the time, I wanted nothing more than my then 5 year old son Archer to enjoy and love the game of #lacrosse as much I do.
He didn’t take. I tried, and pushed harder and his disdain only grew larger. After three days of massive frustration, I realized I was the sucker sitting at the table. .
That night, I ordered a dozen rainbow cones. A few days later, we went back out there and instead of asking him to try some basic drills, I instead led with, ‘if you get the white ball under the blue and green cones, it’s one point. If you get the yellow ball under the red and orange cones it’s 2 points. And if you find an orange ball no matter what cone color it’s under, it’s worth 3 points. You’ve got 2 minutes and then we’ll see how many points you have.
After 2 minutes was up, he looked at me and asked, how many points? I replied, 21 points. He asked if it the score was a good one. To which I replied, ‘yeah, pretty good’. He then replied with the words all parents and coaches no matter the activity long to hear, ‘can we do it again, I can do better.
The realization was simple. The game of lacrosse I love and fill my DVR up with (to my wife’s dismay) is a highly skilled, fast moving, action packed game that is not of much interest to kids his age. Starting an elementary player with a heaping of ground ball line drills that you remember doing when you played in high school feels like eating vegetables to them. Rather, what matters to kids is having fun, being challenged, playing games, and feeling good about themselves.
Roughly 16 months and over 900 scoopers later, my proudest moment as a father and coach, was realized this morning when I saw what my now 6 year old, Archer chose for what he wants to be when he grows up.
American author, Clarence Budington Kellan once quipped; “my father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it”. My joy and pride this morning was not because Archer chose the sport I love, but rather because he chose it on his own volition.
Thank you for taking the time to read a lacrosse coaches perspective.
