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Jeff Strickland is 51 and a retired U.S. Air Force master sergeant. Sebastian Lawrence is 17 and won’t graduate from high school until June next year. Yet, both play as teammates on The Lumberjacks, a German lacrosse team based in Hochspeyer, a small village southeast of Kaiserslautern.
In fact, five other Americans also play for the upstart team that last year was called “the best new team” in the German national league of over-40 squads.
Strickland, who works at the Child Development Center on Ramstein, always toyed with the idea of playing lacrosse, so one day he found the Lumberjacks online. Though he had never played the sport, he quickly adapted to the rough and tumble action, then became a total devotee, he said.
“I’m sure I’m the oldest rookie in Germany, maybe in Europe,” Strickland said laughing.
Young Lawrence, on the other hand, came to Germany as a seasoned veteran. After turning down American football in the states, he and his parents looked for another sport. When he arrived in Germany with his father, Chief Master Sgt. David Lawrence, of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe NCO Academy on Kapaun, he had already had seven years of experience in Colorado. Before arriving in Germany, Lawrence researched German teams and settled on the Lumberjacks.
“I like contact sports, but I’m not big on football, so my parents found lacrosse (LX) and I’ve been at it since,” he said. “In all the years playing, I’ve had only one injury, a dislocated shoulder. Mostly I don’t get hurt because I dish out the pain, not take it.”
Coach and team manager Daniel Miofsky said Lawrence was the first American who “stuck it out.”
“I like the motivation of the Americans because they always want to get better,” Miofsky said.
The Lumberjacks started at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern in 2008, before the demand for soccer fields pushed them out. Looking for a home club, they discovered Hochspeyer Grün-Weiss so their uniforms matched the colors of the new club. In 2009, their first year in the Western Division of the National Lacrosse League, the Lumberjacks shocked established clubs by winning six of 16 games, even beating the traditionally strong Mainz.
Other Americans on the team include Senior Airman Cory Petrovich and Airman 1st Class Dustin Macuirzynski of the 569th ASFPS on Vogelweh, as well as 1st Lt. Matt Kettler, Jackson Edwards and 1st Lt. Justin Lapin from Ramstein, and Sgt. James Keller from Baumholder.
Lacrosse originated in North America, where Native Americans played it long before Europeans set foot on the continent. Indians called it “Baggataway,” meaning “Little Brother of War,” and they ritualized the sport to honor their creator. Playing fields often covered several miles, sometimes with hundreds of players trying to score in what may have been a tree or a sacred object. When the French arrived in Canada, they named the game “La crosse” because they thought the sticks with nets resembled bishops’ crosses.
Centuries later, the sport has exploded on American university and high school sports fields. Men’s lacrosse is a contact sport with body checks and attempts to steal the ball from the opponent’s stick. A game lasts 80 minutes. Although lacrosse turns rough at times, the game relies mostly on speed and the dynamics of tactical movement.
“We’re always looking for more players, especially those with experience,” Coach Miofsky said.
If interested in joining the team or to just come out and look, e-mail Coach Miofsky at d.miofsky@gmx.de or call 0170-2882552.
The Lumberjacks host Frankfurt on Saturday, then meet Aachen, another top team, at home on Oct. 31. Games begin at 2 p.m. at the Grün-Weiss field at Kirchstrasse 120 in Hochspeyer.
