Way of Tenacity

The Way of Tenacity is about our players, their families, and the people that become their family through the sport of lacrosse.  Throughout the year, we will have different voices contributing to our Tenacity Times to share their “Tenacity stories”, and we hope that through these… you see and hear WHO WE ARE.  Our first blog is by Nikky Price, who was a member of the BearLax class of 2016, attended Menlo School in the San Francisco Bay Area and just completed her freshman year at the College of William and Mary.

My name is Nikky Price and I played for Bearlax 2016 Blue. I just finished playing my first year of lacrosse at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, and want to give you a little background of the past year and how much lacrosse has impacted my life.

In October of last year, my father died rather suddenly of cancer. This has been by far the hardest thing I have ever had to face in life. Every morning I would wake up and think my dad would want me to work hard everyday at life and continue living fully even though he is gone, so that is what tried to do. To be honest what truly keeps me waking up every morning, going to class, and staying in Virginia, rather then me just going home, is lacrosse. My team turned into my family, and within the span of two months theses girls knew so much about me and were able to be the best support system I could have asked for. But it wasn’t only the team that kept me on my feet but the sport of lacrosse.

I would look forward to getting out on the field with the people I love and playing the sport that make me happy. It was the time of day that allowed for me to mentally escape and just focus on lacrosse and the teammate ten yards across from me, passing the ball. Everything that was going on in my life froze when I was playing. I worked harder than I ever had on the lacrosse field, in the weight room and on my speed and agility. I wanted to put everything into this sport because it is what helped me get though one of the hardest times in my life. I started to hold myself accountable for what was happening in my life from that point on, giving me clarity and ownership. This in turn, gave me the opportunity to see the field as a freshman and help my team in games. Playing gave me so much confidence in myself and really showed me what I was capable of.

I believe there is a silver lining for everything in life, and although this has impacted me more then I can explain, I have a whole new outlook that life is about relationships and kindness. It is really easy to get caught up in the things in life that may seem significant and problematic until something like the death effects you. What this step in my life truly showed me was how lucky I was to have the ability to have an amazing team that would stand by my side in times of adversity, push me to be the best athlete and lacrosse player I could be, and give me the opportunity to shape my character into one that is strong, hardworking, and kind. Without lacrosse I do not know where I would be, and for that I am so thankful and I know that I would never take the moments with my team for granted.