Big-Time Dreams
For Adam Gardner, playing lacrosse at Bellarmine University is a step forward on an ambitious journey. This sophomore special-education major has set the bar high for his career: play Division I college lacrosse, compete professionally and perform internationally for his country, Canada.
As one of 14 Canadians on Jack McGetrick’s 43-player roster, the attackman known as “Snake” has the pedigree and determination to complete his dreams, even if it means journeying to Kentucky to play a game that is still on the fringe of the state’s sporting consciousness. “It’s part of what I have to do to get to where I want to be,” he explains.
After two years at Trinity-Pawling School in upstate New York, Gardner received offers to play at established lacrosse programs at Hobart and Canisius colleges, but turned them down in favor of a nascent Division I program at Bellarmine, now in its second year. “I wanted to contribute to a new program, and (Coach McGetrick) has a good reputation among Canadians . . . and they gave me a lot of (scholarship) money.”
To be competitive with the school’s more experienced conference foes, such as Notre Dame and Ohio State, BU needs his level of talent. Gardner, like other Canadians, not only learned how to play outdoor, or field lacrosse, but also an indoor variety known as box lacrosse. “You need a better stick in box because it’s in tighter quarters,” he says. The game, which is played on a hockey rink without ice, added shiftiness to his arsenal, teaching him how to make passes underarm, sidearm, behind-the-back and on-the-bounce.
He’s a bit undersized at 5-foot-9 but uses his low center of gravity to stay on his feet and his nearly 200-pound frame to knock around opponents. Also, he’s a student of the game, familiar with its literature, its history and its spiritual meaning for Native Americans, who invented it hundreds of years ago.
He scored 36 goals and tallied 24 assists as a freshman, but was not listed among official top scorers because Bellarmine was playing a modified schedule as it geared up for this year’s full immersion into top-division play. He put up impressive numbers as well this season, which ran from late-February to the /files/storyimages/of April. With every game, he hopes to take another step toward his personal goals, but for the next two years he has another task in mind as well. “I want to put Bellarmine lacrosse on the map,” Gardner says. —JLF