From Lacrosse Camper to Coach, a Player’s Personal Evolution

Over the past 25 years, I have seen the game of lacrosse evolve from a niche sport, played mostly along the East Coast from New Hampshire to North Carolina to the fastest growing high school and collegiate sport in the United States.  

When I began playing in high school in the late 1980s, I would be stopped in the streets of Brooklyn and asked, what was I carrying? Many had never seen a lacrosse stick before.

In order to improve and take my game to the next level, I had to travel a thousand miles during my senior year at Midwood High School. In the winter of 1990, my good friend Everett Mapp and I participated in a select five-day lacrosse camp at Florida International University in Miami as members of the NYC Empire State Team.

We loaded our gear on a Greyhound bus with hopes of working hard and improving our games. Our senior season with friends at Midwood was ahead of us, and we wanted to make it a great one.

On the morning after Christmas, we assembled at Port Authority and embarked on a 32-hour bus journey, which would take us through all the main attractions on I-95, including Washington, D.C., historic Richmond, and South of the Border. When we reached the Florida state line, two excited teens did not realize that our destination was still six hours away. 

We arrived at the Miami Dolphins pre-season training facility and were greeted by coaches who also made the trip from the Northeast corridor. The staff was a “who’s who” of prominent players and coaches from major college programs, including Cortland State, University of Maryland and Towson State.

Everett and I played midfield under the direction of our positional coach, Jim Darcangelo, three time U.S. National Team member and former owner of Lax World. I remember working with coach Darcangelo on transition offense, face-off play and individual defense. We worked hard, competed at a high level and improved on a daily basis. We were ready for success in our senior season. 

On the final day of camp, when the coaching staff realized that Everett and I were taking the bus back to NYC, they offered to pick up the tab and fly us both to New York. We declined, but very much felt a part of a fraternity of people who shared a passion for life and lacrosse.

Fast forward more than a decade to 2001, when the nacent U.S. Lacrosse organization began tracking national participation in the sport.

In the last 13 years, the number of players in organized programs has grown from 253,901 to 722,205 – and that’s not including leisure play. As Lax-fever continues to spread, some predict more than a million participants by 2016. 

In order to maintain this level of growth, people, communities, teams and coaches need to work together in order to teach and deliver a quality product.

I founded Evolution Lacrosse Academy, based in Northern New Jersey, to foster a love for lacrosse at all levels and am committed to helping the game of lacrosse achieve this positive growth.

I continue to build on what I learned in the first days I picked up a lacrosse stick: it takes commitment along with a safe and a positive environment for players to develop skills, grow, and evolve into responsible and talented athletes.

Only now they can do it without a 32-hour bus ride.

Matt Podwoski is the founder of Evolution Lacrosse Academy.