This article appears in the September/October edition of US Lacrosse Magazine, available exclusively to US Lacrosse members. Join or renew today! Thank you for your support.
It feels good to be back in print.
After a one-edition run as a digital-only publication, it’s reassuring to know US Lacrosse members can once again get their hands on a physical magazine. I gotta say, though — the July/August edition gave us plenty to consider in terms of how we present your favorite content in different formats. It’s loaded with rich media and immersive features.
Highlights from the previous magazine include a special “How To” series with text and video tips from some of the best lacrosse players in the world, coverage of the racial awakening in a sport that’s predominantly white and must-read stories about Pace’s Courtney Pabst and Chaos’ Jarrod Neumann. If you missed it, visit uslaxmagazine.com/julaug2020. That’s a members-only link that includes the July/August edition as well as an archive of digital publications dating back to 2012.
Summer was a whirlwind. For 22 days, we had lacrosse back in our lives, as Major League Lacrosse and the Premier Lacrosse League staged quarantined, fan-less tournaments starting with the MLL opener July 18 and the PLL Championship Series finale Aug. 9. Thanks to the leagues’ relationships with ESPN and NBC Sports, respectively, we binged on some of the best lacrosse you’ll ever see and the pro game reached a vast audience of sports-starved Americans.
Even though the games happened in a bubble, however, neither MLL nor the PLL was immune to the public health and racial tensions that have plagued our country this year.
Three MLL players tested positive for COVID-19 right before the playoffs, causing two teams to withdraw and several other players to leave due to health concerns. And neither the MLL Four nor the PLL’s Black Lacrosse Alliance — contingents representing the leagues’ black players — felt they had universal support for their demonstrations on the field. Uncomfortable conversations continue.
“New normal” has become a popular trope to describe what life might be like when we get past this pandemic. It implies there’s no going back to the way things used to be. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Whether it’s innovating the way we deliver information or changing the way we think about systemic racism in society and lacrosse, opportunities abound for us to improve as people and stewards of this game.