Parents, you’re great people, but considering the standards most of you use to raise your kids today, it’s amazing that you survived high school athletics without severe mental trauma. We all grew up in the same era, but do you remember it?
Back when I played, there were no private lacrosse lessons or elite travel teams. I loved the game, and if I wanted to get better over the weekend, I’d leave in the morning with my stick in hand and be gone all day, just returning in time for dinner. I never saw this as training; for me, it was just plain fun.
No one could reach me all day. My parents knew where the field was, and that was good enough for them. No cell phones or mobile devices—unthinkable today! You might wonder, “What if something happened?” The answer was simple: if something went wrong, it sucked, we dealt with it, and moved on.