Cradling victory: bright future ahead for Shoreline lacrosse
Written before the school closure and season-ender, Kolus reported on the prospects for lacrosse in Shoreline
May 28, 2020
Chad Holdridge cradles the ball as feet thunder on the grass. Players weave between each other, their hearts pounding as they sprint across the hundred meter stretch of field. Their sticks are extensions of their arms, catching, throwing, and checking in the dance known only as lacrosse.
Holdridge has been a key member of the Shoreline lacrosse community in the past year. Holdridge is a high level player– playing at the state and national level, where he competed in Florida in 2017. Holdridge started his high school career at O’Dea– a Catholic private school for boys– mainly for their lacrosse team.
“I got to do some captain’s practices. I ended up transferring before the regular season but I got to play with them a little bit and kind of learn the way they run their practices,” Holdridge said.
While O’Dea was enriching for Holdridge’s lacrosse career, he felt held b ack by the lack of academic rigor in his classes. He says, “O’Dea was a really fun environment but I didn’t feel like it was setting me up for success in college.”
When the prospect of a Shoreline team became likely, Holdridge banded together with others to create a team and program for the greater Shoreline area. He and others, including Grayson Lagasca and Richard Sandstrom have advocated for a Shoreline high school lacrosse team. Holdridge hopes to bring the organizational and drilling skills that he learned from O’Dea and bring them to the Shoreline program.
The Shoreline lacrosse team plays in Wesco division 2, against teams like Snohomish, Stanwood, Glacier Peak, and Monroe. “We got our team together last year and we went undefeated in division and made it to [the] first round of playoffs,” says Holdridge. “But yeah, last year was the first year we ever had a team and we’re hoping to get a Shorewood team next year,” he continued.
Prospects for the sport in Shoreline are bright. Holdridge explained, “Based off the athletics we have in the area, I think there is extreme potential for the sport in the greater Shoreline area… we have some really good programs that we’re competing with.” Holdridge added, “But as the drive for more athletics and more diverse opportunities through athletics grows, I think the sport is just going to take off.”
Holdridge has one last message for all of Shorewood: “We need people to come out and play, so if you are interested at all just come to lacrosse club– it’s every other Tuesday. We meet, go over the game, take questions, just have fun and hang out, and if you… are interested in playing, just let me know and I’d love to answer any questions.”
