Joel White walked off the field in Atlanta disappointed. It was the second weekend of the 2021 Premier Lacrosse League season, and his Chrome team was outscored 5-1 in the fourth quarter and fell to the Waterdogs, the team’s second loss in as many games to start the new year.
When he got to the sidelines, however, the loss wasn’t eating at him. Instead, his wife, Kelsey, handed him their son, Macklin, who is nine months old. Having his young son in his arms, wearing a t-shirt made by Kelsey with Chrome on the front and his name and number on the back, changed his emotions.
“Perspective is the best word,” White said. “To be able to go over and see him, and he’s smiling and been out in the heat quote-unquote ‘watching’ us play, it’s incredible. It’s very easy to flip that switch. It’s something, I knew I could do it, but didn’t know how it could go. It’s important. That’s the biggest thing. It’s him first and Kelsey first. I’m sure after some of those losses throughout the years, I wasn’t the same way with Kelsey that I was with Macklin, but it’s a different perspective to switch into dad mode. It’s fun to do that and see him and have him cheer me up after a tough loss.”
People will often say the lacrosse community is a small one, but the community of dads playing in the PLL is even smaller. Players like White, Matt Abbott, Kyle Harrison, Brodie Merrill and Lyle Thompson balance playing professional lacrosse and traveling on weekends during the summer with daddy duty.
White and Abbott are new parents; White’s son, Macklin, was born in September 2020, and Abbott’s son, Landen, was born in May 2020. Becoming dads immediately impacted their lacrosse careers, as neither played in their respective 2020 bubbles. While White also was starting a new job over the summer, both he and Abbott said their families factored heavily into their decisions to take a season off.
“At first, you think it’s a tough decision, but it wasn’t,” White said. “It was unfortunate, and I was bummed to not be with the team, but I was happy to be starting my job off on the right foot in medical sales and also being there for Kelsey.”
“I didn’t feel like going away for 10 days of lacrosse and two weeks of quarantine was the right thing to do,” Abbott added. “This was the first season I missed in my life. It was a different feeling but a right one.”
After being home with their new families throughout the summer and fall, White and Abbott talked about how difficult it was to go to training camp and leave their sons for the first time for an extended period. It was a whirlwind of emotions for Abbott, whose son took his first steps two days before he left to join the Whipsnakes for training camp at Gillette Stadium.