This article, as told to Matt DaSilva, appears in the April edition of US Lacrosse Magazine, which includes a special 12-page section featuring faces and voices of the black lacrosse community. Don’t get the mag? Join US Lacrosse today to start your subscription.

I’m from outside Philadelphia. The town I live in is Horsham. I started playing lacrosse and learned about the sport through my mother. She played at Lower Merion High School and at Penn State. She said, “Chase, there’s a whole lot of people that love basketball and football, but there aren’t that many spots. Lacrosse is something that’s growing and something I feel like you could be really good at. I think you should give it a shot.”

The first couple of days of playing lacrosse, I definitely realized I was one of the minorities. But I’ve never had any negative experiences. Growing up with a stick in my hand since fourth grade, I just loved it. From playing basketball, there’s a whole lot that converts over to lacrosse. Stick skill-wise, that came from my mom. My dad’s from Jamaica, so he had no idea what was going on. He was more of the basketball guy. It’d my mom who I lean on and I thank every day for giving me the opportunity to put a stick in my hand.

My whole life, I’ve been in minority situations. I went to a Catholic predominantly white middle school. And then in high school I went to St. Joe’s Prep in the heart of Philadelphia, and that was predominantly white as well. It was definitely aware of it, being one of the only black kids on the team, but it was never something that shied me away from the game of lacrosse.

The lax bro stereotype is definitely out there. But being a black lacrosse player, I’m breaking that stereotype, letting other black athletes know that there is a role here to put your foot in the door and a great opportunity to go to college. I know without a doubt I wouldn’t be in the situation I’m in without lacrosse.

I love spreading the game to inner cities and athletes. My high school coach Eric Gregg, he also was a black lacrosse player. He played for the Philadelphia Barrage. He has an organization called LEAPS. We could go into inner-city Philadelphia and teach about the game, try to explain the great benefits and outcomes if you end up playing lacrosse, getting into college and getting a college degree. I was one of maybe three black lacrosse players on the team. I could tell, the kids looked up to me and my other black teammates as role models. They would congregate toward us a little more. It showed we can have an impact on the youth.

Johnny Christmas was a huge role model of mine growing up. I couldn’t tell you how many times I looked up Johnny Christmas YouTube highlights when I was younger. Through HHH (Head-Heart-Hustle) Lacrosse, I was able to do community service with him and play for him when I was younger. That was a really cool opportunity. Being a black athlete, having those role models — the Chazz Woodsons and Myles Joneses of the world — it just gives you a sense of hope that you can be great at lacrosse and you can make a difference in the community as well. That’s how I’ve been living my life, trying to be a role model for young athletes, white or black, to give them the opportunity to see what success looks like.

My parents diversified me pretty well when I was at a young age. Like I said, my father’s Jamaican. He’s also Chinese. (Also, Team China, hit me up. I’m down to do that as well.)

I’m a whole mix of stuff. I got Chinese, Jamaican, Native American on my mom’s side — just from a family standpoint, I’m pretty diverse in that sense. My parents raised me not even to think of color. There’s been a racial divide in society. But they were able to teach me there are all types of people, and you should treat others the way you want to be treated no matter the skin tone or complexion they have.

Once I started lacrosse, having teammates who were raised the same way helped. I’ve been blessed having teammates that are appreciative of the way I am as a lacrosse player and the way I am as a person. They haven’t judged me for the color of my skin.