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posted 04/30/2012 Granby, CT - Every young athlete dreams of making the big-time. Sadly, as adults we realize, for most, the thought of securing a starting slot on a collegiate or professional team and playing amid the lights, crowds and cameras will forever remain a dream. However while you are young and committed to focusing every ounce of your energy and concentration on becoming the best player you can be, that dream is alive and well, especially when someone from your own backyard, who is currently living the dream, shows up at your practice to share his knowledge, skill and passion for the game.
That is exactly what happened to 17 - eleven and twelve year old boys from the Granby Youth Lacrosse Junior A team on a cold and misty Thursday night in April. The boy’s coaches had arranged to have Simsbury native, David Earl, run practice. After graduating from the Westminster School, Mr. Earl became a two-time Division I, All American lacrosse player and captain for Notre Dame, where he tallied 73 points (51 goals and 22 assists) in 62 career games and played in the Fighting Irish’s overtime championship loss to Duke in 2010. He is currently number 27 for the Major League Lacrosse (MLL) team the Hamilton Nationals. Earl also plays box lacrosse for the DLL’s Minnesota Swarm.
Mr. Earl spent one hour with the awe-struck fifth and sixth graders helping them hone their skills. The boys were introduced to some basic concepts like the split dodge, how to set a pick and how to switch hands, but for that hour they might as well have been learning the secrets of life. To them, David Earl is the living embodiment of the dream itself. As twelve year old Ricky Schoelles exclaimed after practice, “I wish Mr. Earl was our coach all the time.”
To David Earl it is a matter of giving his passion and love of the sport back to the next generation that is just now embarking on their journey to achieve the dream. He wants kids to take notice that midfielders can in fact play both ends of the field (both offense and defense). He is passing on the advice he received at the Westminster School in Simsbury, under coaches Peter Newman and Dennis Daly.
“I want to influence more kids to become two-way players. I want the new trend to be back to the old school two-way midfielders,” said Earl. “To be called one of the best two-way players makes me proud of the hard work I have done to play both ways. To see it paying off is exciting.”
Earl and his former high school coach, Peter Newman, have started a company called 2Way Lacrosse. The company is operating summer lacrosse camps for grades 3 through 10. For more information on their camps, visit
www.2waylacrosse.com.
