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What’s That Stick For?

Mike Oseroff on the joys, sorrows, and mysteries of lacrosse.

By Mike Oseroff

Mike Oseroff is Youth Radio’s resident sports commentator and columnist. Keep checking this space for his weekly updates! You can email him at sports@youthradio.org.

Four weeks into my first lacrosse experience, I’ve heard one question asked more than any other and by now it has really started to make me sick: “What sport is that?”

Whether it be my friends, people at school, or alcoholic bums on the bus, they all look at my aluminum shafted stick, thick pads and helmet, and wonder what the hell the stuff is for. Funny thing is, a couple weeks ago I hardly knew myself.

Sports have always come very easy for me. I could pick up anything, and I felt with my natural ability, I could just go out and succeed no matter what. My philosophy was, if you could play one sport well, you could play them all well, and for 16 years of my life it held true.

Then a few months ago, everything changed. For one reason or another, lacrosse became the hottest sport at school and everyone wanted to play it. When a few of my friends said they were going to try it, I skeptically looked into it, and tried to find out what the deal was.

Predominantly played on the East Coast and rooted as a game Native Americans played to prepare for war, it was no wonder lacrosse was so foreign to a lot of folks. Sure I’d seen it played before… kind of. It looked like guys running around in pads, trying to throw a ball into a goal, and using a stick with a basket on it. It didn’t seem very tough, and when I heard that more than 70 people were trying out, I, with my competitive nature, had to accept the challenge and try out as well.

I wasn’t really sure where to start as far as preparing for tryouts, so I headed to Sportmart, where it quickly became evident the rest of the world was just as clueless as I was. There, I was greeted by employees who didn’t know the first thing about lacrosse and had no idea which stick to recommend — or even how to play the game. Frustrated at their lack of knowledge, I bought a short stick because I could handle it pretty well, and anxiously awaited our first practice so I could learn this silly game.

At tryouts, which I am currently participating in now, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw how many people were in the same boat as I was. The majority of these kids had never played before and didn’t make me feel like a complete loser when I realized how tough the sport actually is. It was strange when I first tried to throw the ball as hard as I could, and watched as it ended up on the ground five feet in front of me. Catching the ball was also difficult at first, because if you took your eye off the ball for one second or you lost it in the blind spots of your helmet, you were screwed.

But hardest of all was the constant need to “cradle” the ball, the equivalent of dribbling a basketball. Cradling requires endless wrist and arm-twisting to put centrifugal force on the ball to keep it from coming out of the basket, and after two minutes of non-stop arm movement with the heavy pads on, my whole upper body was sore. Slowly but surely the sick realization that this sport was going to require a lot of hard work began to sink in, and my cocky attitude was immediately humbled.

Today, I have a lot more respect for people who play this sport than I did a month ago, and am finding myself working harder than ever just to keep up with the group. Lacrosse combines elements of hockey, football, and soccer, and is a game of finesse as well as intense running and smacking. And not only is it fun, competitive, and a heck of a workout for your body, lacrosse has changed my philosophy regarding sports.

And now I know, no matter how good you are, it ain’t all a walk in the park for everything, baby.

Check out more of Mike's columns!