Lax Mom of the Week

In the summer of 2007, my son was in the 7th grade and started to play summer league lacrosse. Because we always went to Montclair Varsity games, I became friendly with some of the lax moms of the players.  These women told me to get Christian involved with summer club lacrosse if he was possibly thinking of playing lacrosse at the collegiate level.  We were just trying to get him through the 7th grade, but I knew that their advice was right on point.  This meant that we had to spend a fortune on a new helmet, gloves, jerseys, shorts, and tournaments.  So we found a club that wasn't too far away, and seemed to be reasonably priced.  He went to try-outs and played for  Thunder Lacrosse which  is part of Ath-Ed Lacrosse. 

That summer we went to tournaments in New Jersey and Long Island and my son played his first summer as a defenseman.  The kids loved it and so did the parents.  It's actually where I met the Lax Mom of the Week, Laura McCarthy.  A seasoned lacrosse mom, Laura is a wife, mom of three, and a lacrosse umpire.  Her only son Danny played that summer with Christian.  Laura taught me what being a lax mom really means.  She would organize the refreshments and tents for each tournament, and she even had extra goalie equipment in her car that her son ( a midfielder) would wear if we needed a goalie!  Watching her I learned about creating spreadsheets for tournaments and having a great attitude when it came to the team.  That summer we were part of a rowdy group of lax parents who screamed and laughed through so many of those obscenely hot days.  But that was the summer that I learned what being part of a team really means for parents.  We cheered for every child and gave them words of encouragement whenever possible. 

Since then Christian has played for two other club teams and we have seen Laura and Danny on those fields as well as on our respective town teams.  This weekend our boys will play together on a team that she and I put together for a Fall Finale Tournament. 

Here is a link to an article about Laura and her son Danny and his commitment to Montclair State University
http://www.laxlessons.com/2013/10/25/danny-mccarthy/