Watch the sky for flying objects

When checking out the lacrosse club’s web page, visitors may instantly notice an anonymous quote: “The cowards never started, the weak died along the way.” Lacrosse, as junior team captain Ryan Haidar would say, “is definitely not for the faint of heart.”

Iraq War veteran James Taylor, who is currently a co-captain with Haidar, founded the club in 2007. The team is composed of a group of guys who come from a wide range of backgrounds and who all share a love for playing lacrosse.

“It goes beyond a team level, we’re all friends…we really care about each other,” Haidar said.

The team is very competitive and has participated in several tournaments, including competitions down in Arcata, Calif., at Humboldt State University and even some at the University of Oregon. At the moment, the team is in the midst of the regular season and playing games almost every weekend.

Aside from sports, the team took part in the Martin Luther King Jr. day of service together. Team members took part in honoring King and participating and assisting in any way that they could. 

There are 27 members on the team, with spots still available for more players. New members do not need to have experience, because there are many on the team who have been playing for many years and are willing to help those who need it.

The team meets and practices three times per week, with about two hours of allowed field time. Outside of practice, many of the guys get together and go to the student rec center for conditioning and weight lifting.

The club is a part of the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL), and is in the Division I with seven other teams.  Their conference is just one in the larger organization of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA), which consists of over 200 teams from across the nation.

Haidar, who has been on the team since the 2007 season, shared one of his first memories of the team and explains that half the fun of playing lacrosse is just getting to know your teammates. It was their first trip down to Arcata, with a volunteer coach, who according to Haidar, could easily become upset.

“The tournament [was] all said and done and we were trying to get out of Arcata, we went to a gas station, and our coach went inside to get some snacks. Meanwhile, I was sitting in the back of the van when another team captain went to pay the gas… and he stuck the gas card into the receipt slot and got it stuck…” said Haidar.

At the same time, Haidar said, another player decided he would lend a helping hand and clean the glass. But after cleaning the outside of the van, he got back inside and decided that the inside glass was dirty. He proceeded to wash the inside with the dirty squeegee he used on the outside.

“Meanwhile [our] coach came out with a bunch of snacks, realized that Grant got the card stuck, and that there was this nasty water all inside the van, and Max was trying to scrub the inside of the windows with it, and it was probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen,” Haidar said, “[Our coach] got bright red and started screaming—I was in the back just dying laughing. It was a really good time, it just showed me the potential how much fun you can have getting to know these guys.”

For more information about the club and how to join, go to www.pdx.edu/recreation/lacrosse or http://psulax.groups.pdx.edu. ?