The typical LAX bro: the cutoff, the backwards hat, the overconfident and frat-like attitude. They are seen as the guys that don’t give a damn. The guys who don’t try.
Senior Burke Smith just laughs at this stereotype. He’s not that type of guy. He’s a leader on the drum line, a JV cross country runner, and he’s also that guy working on his lacrosse skills, from shooting to sprinting, all year long, no matter what the season.
The hard work is paying off for him, too. Smith is set to attend Holy Cross next fall, and will playing for their Division-I lacrosse team.
“Holy Cross is just had everything I wanted,” Burke said. “It’s in New England, it’s small, they have strong academics, and I get to play Division I lacrosse.”
New England is where Smith actually discovered his love for lacrosse. During his middle school years a couple of his friends started to mess around with the sport, so Smith joined them when they attended a camp in Rhode Island.
Smith always dreamed of pursuing lacrosse at the next level, but the problem was he wasn’t being recruited. But rather than just give up and accept that no programs were reaching out to him, Smith decided to just go to the pitch himself to the collegiate coaches at some of his schools of interests.
“I just realized that they weren’t going to come to me,” Smith said. “I knew that if I wanted to play anymore, than I would just need to take it upon myself to make it happen. Pretty soon programs were asking for my film, and about summer workout plans. Actually, lacrosse probably helped me get into a school that I might not have stood a chance at making before.”
Smith’s decision to pursue lacrosse wasn’t as easy as it seems. By choosing to pursue athletics, his other love, playing the drums, had to be pushed to the side.
“Band was a lot of fun, and it provided a great avenue for me to meet a bunch of different people,” Smith said. “It’s something that I’ll never regret doing, but in the end I just thought I should continue lacrosse while I’m young. I’ll still probably play the drums for the rest of my life, though.”
Smith was a proud member of the East drum line, and he left quite an impression on the underclassmen. Junior Andrew Fischer was just one of the many young drummers that found Smith to not only be a great musician, but a great leader, as well.
“He really just made the drum line a lot more fun,” Fischer said. “I don’t know how to describe it, but he brought a lot of energy and was a great motivator. He will be remembered as a guy who knows how to have fun, but also when to work hard.”
In the end, Smith thinks he made the right decision. When there is any doubt, he just looks back at this year’s game against Pembroke Hill.
“It was the first time we had beat them in our program’s history,” Smith said. “After losing to them year after year, it was such an accomplishment. It was a good game too.”
Though Smith will miss the camaraderie of the East team and community, he is ready to take his lacrosse playing to the next level.
“I can’t wait to keep up that work ethic at the next level. It’s going to be tough, but it’s an opportunity that I can’t pass up.”
Related
Leave a Reply