Andrew Harrison (12, HSU) began his lacrosse career during his sophomore year and hasn’t looked back since. When one of his good friends and former Manual student, Eli Robinson, pitched the idea of joining lacrosse, Harrison agreed, allowing him to create many valuable memories with his teammates.
“One of the reasons I wanted to join the lacrosse team is because I saw the players walking around with their boathouse jackets, and I thought that they looked pretty cool,” Harrison said.
Walking around the school hallways, the lacrosse teams’ boathouse jackets always caught Harrison’s eye. Now, in his third season, he constantly represents his team by wearing the same jacket that helped inspire him to join.
“When I started playing lacrosse, I really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun playing with my friends,” Harrison said.
Harrison had been a part of multiple different sports throughout his time at Manual, but never really found a passion for them, that is until he discovered lacrosse. Aside from enjoying the sport, some of his favorite memories come from his teammates.
“My favorite part about playing lacrosse is probably just the friends I made through it,” Harrison said. “The friends I made through lacrosse are some of my best friends now, and it’s fun now as a senior getting to help the new kids coming in and seeing the program grow. That’s the best part.”
A positive team culture is important in all sports because it helps push all members to their full potential while still having fun. The seniors on the team, especially the captains, are in charge of keeping spirits high while also creating an atmosphere where players can advance their skills. Through his drive for the sport, Harrison landed one of the roles as captain.
“As a captain, we help lead practices and warmups for both practices and games. We make sure that all our teammates have the information they need, and we try to set an example on the team of what they should strive to be like, but also keep things fun,” Harrison said.
To keep morale high, the team spends a lot of time away from the field, together. Whether that is roaming around UofL’s campus before practice or other more recreational activities, this team bonding is very important and influential to the members.
“One of my favorite memories, as a collective, is going and doing stuff around UofL and Manual before practice and then coming back with all the boys. We also go to Cardinal Town or fishing or other stuff like that,” Harrison said.
Being successful in lacrosse didn’t come easily to Harrison, and, in his first year on the team, he had to persevere through a lot of struggles. Harrison worked directly with one of his coaches to support his lacrosse skills, and it was incredibly beneficial to him. Now, with his multitude of skills, he has become a team captain and is a starting player.
“When I first started playing, I was kind of bad. I mean, I’d never played before, but the coach helped me through it. This year, we have a lot less people than we did last year because we had a lot of senior’s graduate, so we’re kind of facing some adversity with numbers this year, but we’re working through it,” Harrison said.
The same person that convinced him to join the team originally, Robinson, is also one of Harrison’s motivations. Robinson helped teach different skills for sports as well as inspire the educational and personal development for all his teammates. With his aid, Harrison set goals to excel in all different aspects of life.
“The person who motivated me the most, especially for lacrosse, is Eli Robinson. He was on the swim team with me sophomore year, and then he got me to join lacrosse. He’s a hard worker; a great team captain and he even got Mr. Manual in his senior year. He’s the person who I wanted to be like for lacrosse and in school,” Harrison said.
Harrison lives his life with the notion that trying new things is important and beneficial. If no one ever leaves their comfort zone, then they won’t ever discover what they like or reach their full potential.
“I think in lacrosse, you just gotta find a group of people who are either similar in your skill level or better than you, and you all can grow together. Make sure to really invest in your teammates because they’re gonna be your best resource. Don’t be scared to try out, I’d say, just try it,” Harrison said.
While Harrison doesn’t know where his future will lead him in relation to sports, he has committed to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT). At UT Knoxville, he plans to major in nursing.
“That attitude of just trying it, could be applicable to anything at Manual. There’s so many different clubs and classes that you can take, especially in HSU. I’ve taken so many different classes that aren’t in my major. My major is sciences, and so I took three AP science classes. But I’ve also taken art classes, and I’ve taken different biomed classes and fashion classes. Just try everything you can,” Harrison said.
