Tomas Meade (Warne-Miagh) '17 Recruiting Profile

Lacrosse Recruiting Personal Statement

I began playing lacrosse in the 4th grade without any knowledge of the sport. The game came easy to me in part because of my experience in both soccer and basketball. I quickly became the leading scorer on my youth team and throughout middle school. In middle school my father created many lacrosse opportunities for me by exposing me to many of the greats of the lacrosse world like Mike and Ryan Powell, Kyle Harrison, Cam Bomberry and Lewis Ratcliff.

As I began to play more, I started to want to learn about where the game came from. I felt I needed to learn more of the history of the game and of the culture and tradition which brought us the game . In the Fall of my 8th grade year I had an opportunity to learn this first hand from Cam Bomberry who was from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and one of the Iroquois Nationals coaches when I attended a conference with my father on at-risk Native youth on the Umatilla Reservation in Eastern  Oregon. Cam was a presenter at the conference and asked me to assist him with a lacrosse clinic for the Umatilla kids. As a result of this I was invited to play for a Native team called Nadzitsaga as an 8th grader on a high school team. We traveled to Six Nations and played in an all Native tournament.  My father continued to teach lacrosse at Umatilla. Over the past couple of years my father and I have returned to the Umatilla reservation and have donated gear and taught the basics of how to play. We have built a strong relationship with the community and have grown to have  close relationships with the people there.  This Fall I played on a team called the Lightning Sticks, a Dakota team, during the medicine games on the Burns Paiute Reservation. They have since invited me to play for them in a tournament in South Dakota. These experiences have given me a deeper cultural understanding of the game. I have learned and embraced the Iroquois perspective, that lacrosse is a gift from the creator and to play the game, one must give your best effort as a way to acknowledge the gift. One of the most important experiences for me so far in my lacrosse career has been to be trained by the Iroquois Nationals coach Cam Bomberry. He has given me a deeper appreciation of the game and I feel lucky to have a personal connection with him now. 

Sports have been a big part of my life and I am hopeful that I will get the opportunity to play in college. I am a good student because I am disciplined and I understand the importance of getting a good education and the possibilities that it will create for me.  

  On my lacrosse team I am a leader because of my skill, my determination and the effort I put in to both practices and games. I hope to attend a college with high standards for academics and a lacrosse team that allows me to grow and reach my full potential both as a student and an athlete.  I am thankful to be able to play this game and to all those around me who have helped me learn. For me there is really no other sport that can compare to this beautiful game because it is steeped in a deep cultural tradition and because of the stick which allows for endless creativity.  These aspects of the game have really drawn me in.

 I hope I can continue my lacrosse career in college and make those people who have helped me learn this game proud.