Scott McLam Memorial Scholarship

My love for lacrosse started as early as I could remember. My father is 1 of 5 children who all went to college and played lacrosse. My first "pink" stick was hanging in my room before I was born and while I have played numerous sports in my youth, lacrosse is my passion. Growing up, I was the only girl to play in an all-boy box league. It wasn't until highschool, that I convinced my travel coach to extend our league to have a girl's box program. Here, I not only practice with my team, but I help coach the younger girls and inspire them to be brave and play hard. The "being brave" part is something I truly live by. At the age of 13, I was playing box lacrosse and after a routine cross check, I suffered from a Stage IV laceration to my kidney. I was told by physicians, I would most likely never play sports again and I should stick to the books. While I did continue to focus on my grades and have consistently maintained a 4.0 GPA, I healed, trained, and focused on a proper diet and have since made the USA NTDP team at the age of 15. I am currently ranked in the Top 30 in the country by Lacrosse Magazine and I hope to someday play in the Olympics with Team USA. My determination to be the best is assisted by the support of my amazing family. We drive hours each week just to get to our practice fields and training facilities, as lacrosse is not a primary sport in the town I am from. And while it is growing, I am dedicated to the team I started with as my coaches and teammates have been another family to me. Why I think this scholarship is a great fit for me is because, at the age of 7, I was told by my parents to start giving back to the community and work on some charitable giveback. I focussed on hosting lemonade stands. After the success of my first stand, I recruited many friends, family, teammates and the community. Together we have raised over $250,000 for pediatric cancer research and for local children that have needed some assistance. Our community calls upon our group, "Lacey Kids for a Cure", as a first-response team to assist in lifting the spirits of those that need it most, children with cancer. I am currently, in my prime year of being recruited to play lacrosse in college. I intend to study well beyond my college years. My plan is to continue with my education for graduate school while being a college coach as a graduate assistant and eventually earning my Ph.D. in Marine Biology. This scholarship would help me achieve those goals and help with the high costs of earning these degrees. Lacrosse is part of my soul. From the "Smith Family Turkey Day Shoot Out, which consists of my parents, uncles, aunts, and A LOT of cousins, who compete for nothing more than bragging rights; to the local high school team fighting to get someone to notice a sport other than football in the newspaper, I enjoy everything about the bond this sport brings. I recognize and appreciate the intentions behind this scholarship and who it stands for. I would respectfully represent Mr. Scott McLam with pride and ask that you please consider my application for this scholarship. Zoey Smith

The sport of lacrosse has been the greatest teacher that I could have ever asked for. I have learned various skills like teamwork, discipline and the importance of dedication and commitment. I have played lacrosse since I was in kindergarten and I have loved every second of it. As 2020 began I knew that my first high school lacrosse season was coming up. It was my dream to make the varsity team as a freshman. Starting in September, I made a goal of doing over 1000 wall ball reps every day. I would work on my weak hand and wrist strength every day. I could see the improvement when I was playing but I was not satisfied. I would play in my back yard for hours regardless of the weather. During this time I learned the importance of discipline. I learned that with constant hard work and not making excuses for myself I would see real positive results. I use what I have learned from my freshman year in my everyday life because now I have a strict study and school work schedule. Even though I lost my freshman lacrosse season to the COVID pandemic, I will be forever grateful for the discipline that I learned from that season. During my sophmore season it was the first year that I made the varsity team. During this year I learned the true meaning of teamwork. Our team was not anywhere close to the best teams in our divsion. We have to go up against national powerhouses like the Darien, Wilton, New Canaan. When we played these national ranked teams we made it a point to work together to try to beat these teams. When we played Darien, at the time they were the number 1 high school team in the country. We arrived with a great attitude and we really believe in each other. During warm ups we were cheering each other on and uplifiting each other. Our commitment to each other and creating a postive enviroment payed off. All of our plays were working to perfection. We were talking on the field and cheering each other on. In the first five minutes we were winning 4-1. We had stunned the best team in the nation. As the game went Darien began to come back and eventually the game ended 12-8. Our team viewed this as a victory because we were within 5 goals of the best team in the country. This game tought me the true importance of team work. When we worked together and supported each other we are able to accomplish the impossible. On the second day of tryouts for my junior season, I tore my laburm. I was heartbroken to know that I could not play. Rather than to do the easy thing and quit the team, I decdied to take on more of a manager role. I would help my coach set of drills and give pointers to my teamates. During games I would record stats like goals and ground balls. This season I learned the importance of commitment. I did not miss one game or practice when I did not have to go to anything. This tought me that when you start something, you make a commitment to do it and do it to the best of your ability. I will be forever greatful to what I have learned playing lacrosse. Now I am going to Trinity College to play field hockey and I plan to walk onto the lacrosse team. I cannot wait to see what lacrosse contiues to teach me.