“The Ultimate Lax Bro” is the most compelling and comprehensive YouTube documentary on the everyday Lax Bro to date. If you haven't seen it yet I urge you to take a quick listen. In the words of Brantford Winstonworth himself, “I like to lax, and I like to party. Do I get chicks? Yes! Do I play lacrosse? Yes! Do I get chicks because I play lacrosse? No, I also happen to be very affluent. I don't know what it is, my family tends to move to hotbed lacrosse areas. It's made me a force from the Great Lacrosse Gods.” The man behind the satirical Brantford Winstonworth is Michael Maclaverty, a St. Lawrence attacker who went to East Coast prep schools and allegedly gets paid to make Brantford appearances at lacrosse tournaments (The Dream).
He references prep school and Fairfield County lacrosse culture in his videos, which makes me feel special because he understands. Lacrosse is a huge aspect of our high school and Wilton community. You can't walk around Wilton Center without seeing a youth boathouse jacket or an old Chargers T-shirt. The high school hallways are teeming with the blueand- white checkered shorts or monogrammed hats. Perhaps I'm biased — I’ve played Wilton lacrosse since the age of 7 and was the goalie for the 2015 State Tournament Class L runner-up team. That said, Wilton Boys and Girls Lacrosse have an undeniably dense, inspiring and proud history full of wins, losses and rivalries that is inseparable from the tradition of this community.
Playing a sport teaches class. Know your place, respect the elders, work hard, be humble. Respect coaches. Play our classy Wilton game: don't shoot unassisted if you're ahead, don't run up the score, don't shoot in the last few seconds unless it’s close, don’t celebrate until it's official. No matter who you’re playing and no matter what the score is, when you’re on the sidelines you better be screaming for us — one game last season we were actually asked to stop cheering because the other team’s coach thought we were loud to the point of intimidation. Have the lax family’s back, always. Ultimately, we can't take the wins and the losses or the state championship trophy with us to college and beyond. We can, however, take the lessons of integrity, of teamwork and positive energy and the feeling of pride in being a part of a half-century-old tradition.
This winter I’m trying ice hockey and I haven’t skated since early childhood figure skating. I’m expecting that it will be different than last or this upcoming spring lacrosse seasons and I'm excited to feel the differences. I doubt there will be tears after each loss. I won't calculate my save percentage, instead I will count the number of times I fall. I will probably still send up a prayer to the Great Lacrosse Gods and I'm secretly hoping the hockey team has a Hudl so I can rewatch the best moments. I plan on bringing that signature Warrior Lacrosse class, intensity and “Bring It” attitude to every practice.
For this article I originally wrote a Fight Club-themed critique on modern holiday values but a tragic event in the life of a teammate largely shifted my perspective. Small communities rally: the wins feel bigger but the losses hit harder. The real value of being a part of a team, however you define it, is sensing that support and togetherness. Positivity and faith in the face of tribulation are the greatest powers in this shared experience.
Olivia is a senior at Wilton High School. She shares this column with four classmates.