This article appears in the November edition of US Lacrosse Magazine, available exclusively to US Lacrosse members. Join or renew today! Thank you for your support.

I’m no Millennial. At best, at age 38, I’m a self-loathing Millennial. Ask my younger colleagues at US Lacrosse who have to hear me rant about the phoniness of social media, our incessant oversharing or our fruitless search for meaning in virtual friendships — it’s got a very stay-off-my-lawn vibe. (And by the way, please stay off my lawn. I just aerated and over-seeded it, thank you.)

I’m more jaded Gen X than salty Millennial. I guess the cranky editor archetype transcends generations. But as I put the finishing touches on this edition, I’m inspired by the people of this age and suffering from an unsettling case of optimism.

In the ensuing pages, you’ll read about the 24-year-old leader of a social justice movement in our sport (“Beacon of Hope,” page 46), the 28-year-old messenger of Indigenous sovereignty (“A Conversation with Lyle Thompson,” page 26), the 25-year-old NFL scout breaking barriers for women in pro football (“Scout’s Honor,” page 24) and the 23-year-old Zimbabwe-born influencer known nearly to everyone on the lacrosse spectrum (“Social Butterfly,” page 18).

Each of these individuals wants to make a mark on the world, but in a way that makes it better for the next generation. The lacrosse world is already a better place because of them — and yes (sighs), because of the power of social media.

In another era, high school players Gabe Clark, Trey Bradford and Josh Hughes might have run into a wall of silence when they reported the foul racial slurs hurled at them during a summer tournament in Florida. Instead, they had a direct line to Kyle Harrison and Jules Heningburg of the Black Lacrosse Alliance, who then coordinated calls with Sweet Lax and US Lacrosse that not only ensured swift discipline of the offending club, but also generated major momentum for US Lacrosse’s anti-harassment and discrimination policy (“No Racism Allowed,” page 14).

I’m reminded of something Gus Heningburg Jr., Jules’ father, said during the course of an hours-long Zoom call with the two of them, staff writer Nelson Rice and me. He was talking about the late Gus Heningburg Sr., a noted civil rights activist.

“My dad was only about young people and empowering young folks,” Gus Heningburg Jr. said. “He tolerated grown people because he had to. Everyone trusted him because he never had his own agenda or did anything for himself.”

Of course, not all agendas are bad. And these kids are adulting extremely well.