Brian's Lacrosse
University of Southern California Lacrosse
Lacrosse has been a passion of mine since I first started playing in 7th grade. In high school, I set a goal of playing collegiate lacrosse. My commitment paid off as I earned a starting position during my freshman year at USC and was elected team captain for my junior season, which made me the first non-senior captain in USC lacrosse history. At the same time, I was appointed team president based on my active off-field involvement with the program. I viewed my positions as an opportunity to significantly grow the organization and gain greater visibility both on campus and in the recruiting community. To accomplish this, I formed the first USC lacrosse executive committee, an 8-person entity comprised of players, university officials, graduate students, and alumni advisors. Through forming the committee, I was able to more effectively supervise our team’s $100,000+ budget (funded by the university and player dues), hire coaches and managers, recruit players and plan team travel. The executive committee greatly helped our program expand, and is still in effect today.
I also worked diligently to increase the legitimacy of the program and strengthen our ties with the school by developing a professional website, establishing relationships between our coaching staff and university officials, and planning a nationally competitive game schedule. After successfully presenting our case to university representatives, the team was awarded Tier I status and was sanctioned as a ‘virtual varsity’ program. The direct benefits included priority field/facility use, access to varsity training staff, and increased university funding from $7K to $40K annually, all of which helped differentiate USC from other west coast lacrosse programs, thus greatly aiding in our recruiting efforts. Forming an executive committee and achieving Tier I status were two significant firsts for the USC Lacrosse team and based on these accomplishments, I was a two-time recipient of the Trojan of the Year award for “outstanding dedication to the growth of the USC men’s lacrosse program.”
Team USA West Lacrosse
Playing for Team USA West in 2004 was the pinnacle of my lacrosse career. I made a 30-person roster from a pool of more than 6,000 players, and represented the United States at the highest level of international competition in Japan and China. Lining up to take the field in front of 20,000 onlookers in Tokyo stadium was one of the most moving experiences of my life, and one that rewarded my involvement in lacrosse more than anything I could have ever imagined.
This picture was taken during the International Friendship Games in Tokyo Japan. The picture above is myself and two fellow USC teammates, the picture below is our team and coaches.
High School Alumni Game
This picture is of my mom and I on the sideline at my annual high school alumni game. Over college breaks I coached youth lacrosse clinics in my area, and I encourage kids to reach for their goal of playing in college, just as I did.
