Returning to the Field Tournament Style

Stephen Kelly # 14 (Frank Kelly’s Son) The youngest player on this years U19 US National Lacrosse Team. Stephen has committed to play at UNC after his senior year at Calvert Hall High School. The Hall is ranked #1 in  the March edition of Lacrosse Magazine, Stephen is featured on the cover! 

Following my second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division I lacrosse finals and loss to Hopkins, I stopped playing for a year. But after a year of coaching at the High School level I got the itch again. With encouragement with from my college coach John Desko, I returned to lacrosse playing for the first time in the Glastonbury, Connecticut Summer Lacrosse Tournament in 1986. The tournament featured some of the top Division I players from the Long Island, New Jersey, Hudson Valley, and New England regions. The competition was incredible and that’s what I thrive on—competition—I am the same way as an academic. This is where I became friends with Cornell and Calvert Hall alum Frank Kelly. Frank was the first lacrosse player I met who like me made a decision during college to make the Lord Jesus Christ look good on and off the field with my life. (See my earlier story on joining the God Squad at SU). Frank would go on to found the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Lacrosse Ministry http://www.fcalax.com/. I participated the following year in the first annual FCA Lacrosse Camp at Gettysburg College. At the camp I began a relationship with Gettysburg Men’s Lacrosse Coach Hank Janzyck (Coach J) and the late Peter Kohn. With Frank taking the lead and providing the vision, FCA lacrosse has mushroomed over the years into a dynamic ministry that is impacting the lacrosse world with huddles (bible studies), camps, teams in tournaments, retreats for college players, and coaches’ breakfasts at national conventions. Well we won the Glastonbury Tournament and I left just as passionate about the game as did before I hung up my cleats in May of 1985. But more importantly, I left with the start of a meaningful relationship with Frank Kelly that has lasted more than twenty years and his still growing stronger each year. Lacrosse has meant a lot to me since I first started playing the game back in 8th grade. But one of the most important parts of our game is the relationships I’ve made with lacrosse folks over the years. From Aaron Jones, Frank, Coach J, Peter, to the players I have played with, against, and coached, lacrosse for me in many ways is truly a great big fraternity and sorority all mixed up into one.