AVID Food Rag

White Boys, Donuts, and Lacrosse

The summer of 2011 was the busiest summer that I ever had. I had to juggle Upward Bound’s Math and Science Program, starting my college stuff, preparing for the SAT, my trip to California, and playing Summer Club Lacrosse. However out of all the fun things that I did this summer playing summer lacrosse by far was the most memorable.

          I may seem very outgoing and stuff to yal but in reality I am very very shy. On my first practice of summer lacrosse I looked around and saw only 2 black guys. Statistics say that less than 2% blacks play lacrosse. Most of the kids either played at the private school level on in Howard County.  All this made me very timid and shy. I was not in my New Town coterie and I was very uncomfortable.

          At the end of practice my coach told us that our first tournament would be in New Jersey. The first emotion that came over me was excitement. However that feeling did not last for long, because fear and trepidation immediately followed. I knew that there would be a lot of college scouts and I didn’t want to mess up. I also felt fear because I felt that I did not know my teammates very well so I thought that would affect how we played.

          The tournament was that weekend so my uncle drove Donneal and I (a New Town lacrosse teammate, who was also on my summer lax team) down to New Jersey. Our first game of the tournament was scheduled to be 8:00 pm. So we left at 2:00 pm so that we could get to hotel and to the game on time. I always get pre game jitters but I never get them 6 hours in advance!!!

          Well after about an hour of driving it started to drizzle. 30 min. later it started to rain. Then once we hit the New Jersey Turnpike it started to pour and then we also hit traffic. We were stuck in traffic for more than 3 hours. Thankfully I got a text from my coach saying that our game was postponed. Unfortunately that did not keep us from getting lost.

          While we were driving aimlessly down a street we passed a 7 11. Donneal and I were really hungry. So we asked my uncle to stop at the 7 11. As I walked into the 7 11 the first thing I saw was a huge sign saying “2 DONUTS FOR A 1$.” I was sooo hungry so I bought 6 donuts, a Brisk Lemonade, and some gummy bears. As I went to the register to pay for my stuff; I heard someone yell “aye number 35!” I turned around and saw Tommy (he our team captain). Tommy also had a bag full of donuts; I told him that we were lost and he said we could follow him.

          So about an hour later we arrived at the hotel. As soon as I walked into the hotel all my teammates were there to welcome us. After we got settled we all went to the pool.

          The next day we win all 3 of our games and I scored one the game winning goals. This tournament was very memorable because I was able to step out of my comfort zone and I was able to bond with my teammates.

          The bond that was created between my teammates and I is still very strong months later. We all still keep in touch and some of us might be playing college lacrosse together.