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 The
Drakes |
 Phil
Drake can speak to the origins of Upper Arlington lacrosse
because he was there from the beginning, football helmets
and all. Drake played attack on the first Golden Bears
lacrosse team in 1972. Needless to say, the sport was
hardly a household name in the early 70's when UA had
only two opponents, Thomas Worthington and Western Reserve.
"I had seen it played and it looked like so much
fun," remembers Drake. "They made an announcement
at school and said show up if you're interested."
17 players did and with the help of Principal Dave Shelby,
UA lacrosse was off and running.
The team had no coach in 1972 but Lee Spitzer took over
in '73 and the sport grew quickly in this Columbus suburb.
Asked if he felt like a pioneer Drake replied, "It
was a blast. I wasn't big enough to play football. I was
a swimmer and lacrosse gave me something to do in the
spring."
There were growing pains. UA lost its first ever game
to Thomas Worthington, the state's first program, 13-0
but the Bears licked their wounds and battled the Cardinals
to a 1-all tie in their next meeting at halftime of the
Ohio College All-Star game played at Jones Middle School.
"I guess that was big progress," according to
Drake. "I don't think there was enough time for them
to score more."
Over the years, Papa Drake has seen his three sons play
the game at UA. Ben, now a senior playing at Ohio State,
started in the 7th grade at Jones. "I had bought
those mini-sticks for the kids but they played baseball
and soccer coming up and I coached the soccer team,"
said Drake. But neither sport caught on like lacrosse.
"It felt like a big fraternity. The people were so
nice and fun-loving and welcoming."
While Phil films the high school games, wife Lisa, who
comes from a lacrosse family, has become the programs
unofficial art director, spending hours as a fixture on
the sideline as a still photographer and working on layout
and design of game and banquet programs. Lisa's father
played lacrosse at Syracuse and Lisa was quite the athlete
as a Connecticut grade schooler. "I am a former tomboy
and played tennis in high school," she recalled.
Husband Phil says Lisa was a legend. "Her Dad thought
she might be the first female quarterback in the NFL.
She was the
fastest 6th grader in her school. Not the fastest girl,
the fastest kid."
The Drake family is enjoying its love affair with lacrosse.
"It's the best time of year. We all look forward
to the spring. We all share the love of the sport,"
says the mother of three. "We have jumped in big-time.
There is nothing more rewarding than being involved in
your kids lives. After the games, we go home and Phil
pops the tape in and we watch the game all over again."
The Drake's middle son Zach played attack and was part
of two state title teams at UA and now attends Miami University.
Their youngest, Alex, is a sophomore attackman for the
2007 Bears. "That's our final Drake," says Dad.
Long-time UA head coach Ted Wolford has coached all three
Drakes. "Once their kids became involved and started
playing their family has been entrenched in lacrosse at
Upper Arlington," said Wolford. "It's neat to
see the cycle and Phil has been able to live it all."
The Drakes are thankful for the experience their sons
have had at UA. "The program is run so well from
middle school to the high school, " added Phil. "It's
run so professionally. I'm not belittling other programs
but we're fortunate in Arlington to have it."
Though Lisa and Phil are watching their last child suit
up in black and gold, Phil's brother, Pete, has another
Drake in the pipeline. Jared is a fifth grader who plays
lacrosse, hockey and football. Lauren is a 7th grader
who plays lacrosse at Jones. Watch out for the Class of
2012. |
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