The Best Story in Lacrosse

This is the story of how I produced my first YouTube documentary…

My early twenties have been a roller coaster so far. Over the past 3 years, I have been on the receiving end of some of the greatest opportunities I’ve ever had and meanwhile experienced lower mental states than my younger self could comprehend.

As I write this today, I am filled with a newfound confidence, born out of the ups and downs of the past few years.

My subjective experiences with my mental health has helped expose a niche within the Sports Media industry that aligns with my present-day value system and gives me the drive to pursue this space. 

HOPE

Often a word discussed only in the realm of religion, hope has become an essential part of my daily experience without the use of worship or spiritual texts. My previously mentioned mental struggles are relevant because that is how hope found its way into my life. It is easy to have hope when you are an active participant in something bigger than yourself. A team, a school, a community, and long-term goals are just a few things that can become vessels for hope.

Entering the post-grad phase of my life, I unknowingly became disconnected from many of the vessels of hope in my life. For the first time in my existence, I wasn’t a part of a community, campus, or sports team. I was working jobs for bosses who only wanted to serve themselves, completing an online graduate program from the solitude of my home desk, and was subject to consistent isolation in comparison to what I had grown accustomed to.

So what changed? I read, “Hope & Kinesiology: The Hopelessness of Health-Centered Kinesiology” by Greg Twietmayer.

For the sake of this blog, I will not delve into definitions of hope as it is a far too nuanced topic. Regardless, what I took from this article is this: “For such a critic, to say hope is necessary for kinesiology, is as insightful as saying ‘soccer requires a ball.” What changed in my life is that I started trying to see the soccer ball (hope) everywhere I could. For example, the existence of hope in sports can be seen through athletes’ consistent willingness to put the goals of the team above their physical health OR it can be seen in the Hampton Men’s Lacrosse Team.

This video about the Hampton Men’s Lacrosse team was an easy story to identify because the men who are a part of this program represent hope at the highest level. Historically dominated by white players, Hampton became the first ever HBCU to field a varsity men’s lacrosse team. However, starting this program has been no easy task. In the first 7 years of the program, they have not won a single game! Yet, these players approach the sport with an incredibly unique mission and sense of joy, truly representing HOPE at the highest level.

WATCH NOW: