It is hard to believe Seven years ago, was the first Ted Hellier Laxfest... as many of you already know, Ted was quite ill at the time, but he was so determined to make an appearance at the festival. He was able to attend, that very first Laxfest... and his energy and spirit has been felt at every one since. He may no longer be with us physically, but boy oh boy do we feel him at this festival every year. Today the 7th annual Ted Hellier LaxFest, was no different. It has come to be one of my favorite days of the year, for so many reasons.
I love the energy of the day.. Friday night before the Fest... volunteers meet to set up the field, hang banners, place signs, and meet food trucks. All the months of planning are realized and everyone is so on it! At 6am on Saturday... all the tired Varsity and JV lacrosse players groggily head to the complex to help set up the fields. These boys comically work together to get the huge tent set up ... each year it is something to watch... seeing who takes the lead, how many opinions it takes, technique styles. How many lacrosse players does it take to raise a tent? It is like watching the 3 stooges, but more like 18 stooges! This year with Heather at the helm... the quickest tent raising ever!!! Once the tent is set, all the Varsity players get ready to either Ref lots of games, man the Speedball, or do whatever the volunteer coordinator asks of them, while the JV ready themselves for 3 good games of lacrosse. The parents of these players and past players also show up at 6am... coffee fueled to get the show on the road, and by 7am when teams start arriving, everything is in place and running smoothly. Everyone just happy to be here and ready to spend a day outside and around LOTS of Lacrosse games.
THE LOVE OF LACROSSE... Its different than any other sport I have been involved with...Ted always encouraged his youth players to play both Lacrosse and Baseball... heck, Ted was a huge baseball fan, but he knew as the boys got older, there would come a time when there would not enough room on a baseball team for all the athletic talent. He was sure the lure of the fastest game on two feet, would woo many of them to the game... he was not wrong. He would always say... "there is room on a lacrosse team for every kid".
Ted, was a believer in his players, all of his players, he had a way of communicating with them... not yelling, not ignoring, not belittling, no passive aggression... just respect, he was a believer that you had to give respect to get it.
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For the Love of my husband... a lacrosse fest of this size is a huge deal to organize and run. It takes many, many planning hours, so many volunteers, a ton of sponsors, lots of teams from all over New England (showing up to get their game on), logistical snafus that need to be dealt with at the last minute, weather issues beyond our control and just stuff... it happens when coordinating an event with over 1000 atteendees. But for the LOVE of TED... all the pieces fall into place, folks understand that things happen, Volunteers rise to the occasion and spend more time than scheduled, do tasks they have never done before, all with a smile on their faces and all for the Love of Lacrosse and the love of Ted.
This year for me marks the last of "Teds boys" The age group below was his favorite to coach... he got to see raw talent... help them channel energy and develop a passion... all the good sweet parts of coaching... for the purity and love of a sport. Many of the boys in the photo below have recently graduated or will be graduating this year. A shout out to all of them... for making Coach Teds time with you all, such a joy... it was his honor to watch you all grow, and become great young adults. His time on the field with you all was treasured by him and I thank you all.
I personally look forward to watching you all, in Your HS careers, college years and beyond...
and until next years Laxfest... "Play well young fellas"!
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