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.