There once was a boy that most saw a lot of potential in.  He himself was going through a very difficult part in his life and couldn’t find any way around it.  His mother did all she could, but it did very little; this was because his inner beast, his spirit, his soul itself, was trapped in this cage of hatred and despair.  Despite all his efforts there was still something that was missing.  His mother being the beautiful and powerful woman that she is, she didn’t give up on her only boy. 

No one could penetrate his impregnable arrogance, but one day while he was at a park he goes to almost every day, because this was one of the ways he could calm his spirit, he saw this strange and foreign sport.  He was only in fifth grade but that wasn’t gonna stop this persistent little chap.  So he walked on over, trying not to be noticed and picked up one of the sticks.  Now he wasn’t very good, but one of the coaches saw the fire burning deep within this very small and under-aged child.

Against all odds and regulation rules, they let him play.  Although he wasn’t very skilled, his extremely small size dwarfed him compared to the 6th, 7th and 8th graders but he managed to excel beyond all expectations.  Even though he was small, he was able to use this to his advantage.  Being as small and flexible as he was, he could get a lot lower than most of his giant teammates.  He was aware of this, so he would tend to use this in the games and he got surprisingly good at it.  The coaches saw this and encouraged it.  They even told him what it was called – they said it was a ‘roll dodge’ and even showed him how he could improve his technique. 

All of his hard work and persistence in this alienated sport came down to him and this rather large goalie.  Left and right everyone was screaming with anticipation, “Shoot!  Shoot!”  Now don’t get me wrong, he wanted to shoot but this was his very first shot ever in a game and he was very nervous and he was on the wrong side of the goal.  So he jumps into position to shoot, clenches his stick so not to lose the ball and shoots for his big fat ugly faces and misses, but in missing his face mask scores a goal!  Everyone screaming with excitement and he didn’t know what to do but stand there and watch the ball and the disgusted face of the goalie that looked like he wanted to punch his lights out, so he ran off the field to his coaches screaming, “I made a goal!”  Now even though they lost every game that season he was so proud that he made a goal that he didn’t really care.

Now, next season was a different story.  He grew up a little bit and sharpened his skills tremendously.   Now this didn’t come easy at all – it took months of practice and sometimes, painful practices.  Now this time he was more capable and physically fit to do what needed to be done.  The coaches thought he had a shot at going to the Nor Cal All Star tryouts.  So he asked his mother with a passion that she had been waiting to see for many years.  Of course fearing for his still very small size, she said he could go, but in the back of her mind, wanting to say no.  She was not about to rip his heart out and say no.    That would have broke his spirit and probably make him shy from asking her anything that meant anything to him ever again.  The tryouts were far and up on a high mountain so to test the boy’s endurance.  He didn’t make it that year, but there was a valuable lesson in going, and that lesson was to always try your best to get better because there will always be someone better than you at something, so work your hardest to get better. 

As the games and practices passed by like water over a rock, his knowledge of the game increased and with knowledge comes understanding and with understanding comes wisdom. 

The next season he grew quite a bit and his skills were a little better than expected.  Now he wasn’t very humble and threw his skill in everyone’s face.  That year, he wasn’t able to attend the tryouts because he had become cocky and blinded by his own skill and was unaware that his constant bickering with his teammates was discouraging them from wanting to strive to become great lacrosse players.  Now this took him a long time to emerge from his stubborn arrogance and come to terms with himself and change his ways for the benefit of himself and everyone around him because in doing so he can improve not only in lacrosse, but everyday life as well.  When his transformation was complete his mother could tell that he changed because he started excelling not only in lacrosse.  His grades jumped and he began coming home telling his mother what he learned.

Now his most exciting year was a shocker for him and his friends.  As the games flew by, he was interested in his stats this year around.  He watched as his stats rose and rose until they jumped as high as third in the whole league.  That made him proud and everything felt worthwhile.  This year round he was a veteran lacrosse player, the most experienced player, and captain of the Palega Bulldogs.  The coaches decided to let him have another crack at the Nor Cal Team again.  So he goes to the tryouts and with all his doubts, he made the team.  Their practices were the most strenuous he had ever had to endure.  But in the end, it was all worth it.  He got to travel to Vail, Colorado and beat up on a few other states that thought they had something on California.  This trip was a very interesting little experience. At the end of the regular season, he ranked fifth for points in general and #1 for goals alone, and he was ecstatic.

Brandon Richardson shown with his mom, Danielle after 2005's "Guys 'n Dolls". Brandon is a four-year Lacrosse for LIFE participant, starting on our first team in 2002 as a fifth grader. Brandon wrote this story for a class assignment. He is currently a sophomore at San Francisco's School of the Arts and plays on the City Lacrosse Club team. City is a community-based high school boys' team in San Francisco. Brandon was selected for the Nor Cal All Star U-15 team in 2005. We are very proud of Brandon and we look forward to what is ahead in his future, as well!