Did you know that every current U.S. national team player —in both US Lacrosse's men's and women's programs —have all participated in multiple sports throughout their lives? US Lacrosse asked them: What skill(s) have you learned from playing multiple sports? This is what they shared:
Teamwork and Humility
“The skill that I have learned from other sports was how to be a good teammate. I wasn’t always the best or the star in the other sports I played, so I learned how to be the best teammate and supporter in the field.” – Mackenzie Burns
“Teamwork and being humbled at not being the best at the other sports.” – Will Manny
“I learned to be an athlete. Overall it taught me how to jump, how to run how to be aggressive, how to compete. The best thing it taught me though was humility. I learned how to sit on the bench by playing other sports.” – Kayla Treanor
Lessons from other Sports
“Body position in football.” – Brent Adams
“The push off in hockey helped me a ton in playing goalie. Having to watch the spin on the ball in tennis transferred over to lacrosse—watching the release from the stick and the tracking element.” – Gussie Johns
“Fly fishing — ability to snap wrist and have a good feel for your tool. Golf — relax and be smooth while still being powerful and balanced.” – Mikey Schlosser
“Baseball — Infielder/catcher going for the ground balls or a catch taught to be square and get my body behind the ball. It also helped with hand-eye coordination.” – Caylee Waters
From soccer to ice hockey to field hockey, our national team players can attest that playing multiple sports has helped them in more ways than one. Field spacing and endurance from soccer helped Taylor Cummings while playing the ball off the ground in field hockey helped Katie O’Donnell. Playing multiple sports helped Trevor Baptiste develop discipline, helped Connor Buczek develop competitiveness and helped Sergio Perkovic learn toughness.
Overall, Stephen Kelly summed up what all US Lacrosse players had the opportunity to do: learn how to be a complete athlete.
