The A-Train has Arrived: Kelly, at 39, a Valuable Member of U.S. Men's Box

The locker room was buzzing for the U.S. indoor team’s matchup with Israel on Friday night, when Anthony Kelly stepped toward the counter situated in the center of the floor.

He stood at the counter briefly, placed three pieces of paper down in front of his teammates and delved into a calm but meaningful explanation.

The first piece of paper featured a picture of the 39-year-old with his friend, Sergeant First Class Brian Guzman. The second was an article about Guzman, who earned the Army’s Special Forces Medical Sergeant of the Year award for his efforts in Afghanistan, where he once pulled an Afghan soldier from a burning vehicle. According to Kelly, Guzman had been shot 13 times while trying to help others on the battlefield. He has received four Purple Hearts for his service.

The third piece of paper, a note from Guzman himself to the members of the U.S. indoor national team.

Guzman had hoped to deliver the message to the national team in person. He was supposed to fly to Vancouver to root on his friend, but prior obligations forced him to stay stateside.

“I thought it was great for them to see how important it really is to wear the red, white and blue,” Kelly said.

Kelly posted the letter on the wall leading into the locker room. Players spent the next 15 minutes reading the contents on the paper, taking in the message from an American warrior.

The letter — too long to share in his story — centered on the mindset approaching defining moments and the honor of representing the United States.

“You have been tested and found worthy of wearing Red, White and Blue,” wrote Guzman. “You just don’t represent your brothers, you represent those that can’t be here … but most of all you represent an ideology. The belief that we are free to create our defining moment, the belief that we are a great nation, and a belief that we will never falter under any goddamn threat to what we hold dear in our hearts.”

The message was welcomed throughout the locker room for Team USA, coming off a 10-goal loss to Canada on Thursday night. It served as a reminder of the significance not only of the world championship, but of the opportunity to represent the country.

Rest assured, the U.S. indoor team took advantage of its moment on Friday night at Langley Events Centre. It jumped out to an early lead and pressured Israel throughout the night, en route to a much-needed 18-10 victory to improve to 1-1 in the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship.

The hero for the U.S. in primetime? A 39-year-old retired pro faceoff man turned forward named Anthony Kelly. He scored a first-quarter goal to give the Americans a 4-2 lead — an achievement in itself.

Then, as the game winded down and the U.S. started bleeding clock on offense, Kelly struck again. He scored his second goal on a shot that slipped through the legs of Israel goalie Zachary Higgins.

With 22 seconds remaining, Kelly stood on the left side of the U.S. offensive zone with the shot clock running down. Teammate Blaze Riorden shouted from across the floor.

“‘Hammer it!’” Riorden said.

Kelly did just that. He sent a blast to the top right corner of the goal to complete a hat trick. Teammates erupted in applause on the bench.

At 39 and two years removed from pro lacrosse, it was hard to fathom Kelly making this team. But there he was, three goals later, walking off to a standing ovation and into a locker room ready to share in the excitement.

He made the most of his defining moment in his first world championship since 2007.

“Being here 12 years after my last chance to put on red, white and blue, it means everything,” Kelly said after the game. “My wife is here and my family is here. I have friends here. Just being here with this group of guys is awesome. To be able to end my career here and represent my country, it’s as special as it gets.”

Coach Regy Thorpe, who played with Kelly on the 2007 national team alongside assistant Chris Schiller, hadn’t factored Kelly into the equation for 2019 until two years ago, but he's glad he did.

“He was working hard,” Thorpe said. “We had a good feeling that he could help us in this tournament, even at his age. He’s going to have to get iced up and stretched out and he’ll be ready for tomorrow [against Iroquois].”

Kelly left the field to the chants of “Choo, choo.”

If only for two weeks, the A-Train is back and rolling smoothly.

* * *

Back in 2007, Anthony Kelly was approaching the height of his professional lacrosse career. A member of the MLL’s Los Angeles Riptide and a graduate of Ohio State, Kelly had never tried box lacrosse until he was invited to the tryout process.

His physical abilities made it so that Kelly was an integral part of the 2007 team that won bronze in Nova Scotia. 

“He was just a baby,” joked Thorpe. “Back then, he was just a faceoff guy. He was a great teammate and a down-to-earth guy.”

Kelly then launched into a successful career in professional lacrosse. He played three seasons for the New York Titans in the NLL, and he made three straight MLL All-Star games from 2008-10 — winning the fastest shot competition in 2008 (a sign of things to come, possibly).

By 2011, he was a projected member of the next indoor national team headed for Prague, Czech Republic. However, his lacrosse career was halted when he ruptured the Achilles tendon in his right leg.

That meant no pro lacrosse, and no world championship in 2011.

After a lengthy recovery, Kelly returned to form. He was an MLL All-Star in 2013 and 2014, and helped the Denver Outlaws win the Stenfield Trophy at the end of the 2014 season.

Unfortunately, a torn Achilles — this time in his left leg — made it difficult for Kelly to prepare for a run at the 2015 U.S. indoor team. Two injuries, two missed opportunities. At 35, the idea of ever playing for the national team seemed unachievable.

But he continued to fight back. Kelly recovered in time to wrap his professional lacrosse career after the 2017 season with the Atlanta Blaze. At the time, he was convinced his playing days were over.

“I definitely turned the page mentality,” he said.

He turned to working for the club team he helped found, Resolute Lacrosse. He loved being around the game, but still craved the experience of playing for a team. He’d share stories with friends like Guzman, who could relate.

“We’re pretty close in age and we talk about how he was at the end of his career and I was at the end of mine at the same time,” Kelly said of Guzman. “We talked about how you move onto that next stage of life and how you hang on to that want to compete and want to be part of a team. That was the bond that brought us together.”

And Guzman was there when Kelly decided to give lacrosse another go. Thorpe, his old teammate, took over the U.S. indoor program and invited him to a Blue-White exhibition at Du Burns Arena in Baltimore, Md. on January of 2018.

“I reached out to Regy and he was like ‘Hey man. I never thought in a million years you’d want to get involved. Why don’t you come to this event?’” Kelly joked.

A-Train was back. He became part of the U.S. indoor national team tryout process, providing a veteran presence and a large frame to knock opposing player around. It was a valuable combination for Thorpe’s team.

This summer, Kelly got the call. He’d join Team USA for the 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. 

“It’s definitely not the normal path,” Kelly said. “I managed to fight back and at this point in my life, it’s pretty special to be here. One last go with these guys means everything to me.”

* * *

The players filtered into the main lobby of the Sheraton in Surrey, British Columbia to the sound of live jazz music playing from the hotel bar.

But as the players walked toward the elevators, applause started to rise above the smooth instrumentals. It was Kelly’s crew, excited after the big win over Israel.

Then, as the end of the procession walked in, the applause grew louder. The man of the moment smiled and walked to greet his friends and family. None of them could have imagined he’d be in this spot at 39 years old, across the continent.

Kelly just wanted to give it one more shot — and it paid off big time.

“It’s something I’ve been working toward for 39 years,” he said. “To be able to get that jersey and put it on for the last time for the next 12 days or so, it’s everything, man.”