Like many kids growing up in Florida, Robert Seguin played baseball at an early age.
The then-catcher continued playing travel ball through seventh grade, when he discovered a new sport through a family friend.
“My sister’s best friend’s little brother had been playing lacrosse, and he got me interested in the game and I started watching it more,” Seguin said.
The first lacrosse match he ever watched was a televised national championship in 2010, between Duke and Notre Dame.
“Once I started learning more about the game, I realized how much I liked it,” he said. “I just thought it was awesome.”
For the next week, Seguin begged his mom to buy him a stick. After she gave in, Seguin began taking lessons a month later.
Once he got used to the basics, he discovered the game was much more difficult than the top players at big-time college programs like Notre Dame and Duke make it seem.
“I just liked the physicality of it,” he said.
Seguin started off playing short stick midfield, but after one season playing youth lacrosse, he made the decision to switch to a long stick, once he joined the club team at Durant High School as a freshman.
“Everyone at the time was against it, because I was (midfielder) of the year on my last team,” he said.
Long sticks are typically harder to control than shorter sticks, which more offensive players use. With the switch, Seguin focused on defense.
“I had always been better at defense than offense as a short stick,” he said. “I can’t shoot very well, and I always felt awkward with a short stick in my hand.”
It was the right move. Seguin is now one of the top players in the state and was invited to Blue Chip 225, one of the top recruiting camps in the country for the top rising junior and senior high school players in the nation. Seguin was just one of six players from Florida to earn a spot at the camp, held July 8 to 11, at Bryant University, in Rhode Island.
When he is not playing for the Cougars in the spring, Seguin plays with his West Florida travel team, based in Lithia, and Tampa Elite, in FishHawk. He hopes to play in college, but the rising junior would like to see the sport he loves become an FHSAA-recognized sport at Durant, before his high school career comes to a close.
“When Robert came in as a freshmen, he had experience beyond his years,” Durant club team’s head coach Andrew Madden said. “That’s the kind of kid you want on your team — someone who can lead by example.”
COLLEGE OPTIONS
Eric Blackburn, Seguin’s Tampa Elite travel team coach and the head coach at Newsome High School, recommended Seguin for the Blue Chip 225 camp.
“Robert is a really good player and a great kid,” Blackburn said. “The Blue Chip camp is for advanced players, and I identified Robert as one. I wanted to see how he would stack up against the other talent up there, and he held his own.”
The NCAA allows colleges to begin contacting lacrosse players who are rising juniors Sept. 1. Seguin has already garnered interest and an invite to visit from George Washington University, which has a men’s club team and a Division I women’s team.
“We have heard rumors about schools that are interested, but since they can’t contact us until Sept. 1, we don’t know who that is yet,” Robert’s dad, Daniel said.
Robert said he would love play at a major lacrosse powerhouse such as Duke University, but education comes first.
“I want to find the school that is the best fit academically,” he said. “If they have a lacrosse program and I get to play, that’s great. But, education is my first priority.”
Robert said he would like to study law, something he has had a passion for since he was young. He aspires to work as a sports agent or a general manager in the front office of a professional team.
Because lacrosse is still a growing sport in Florida, athletes typically see their potential late in their high school careers.
“A lot of kids in Florida have time to improve, because most don’t pick it up until they get to high school, when kids from Maryland have played their whole life and have peaked,” Robert said.
RECOGNITION
This school year, Hillsborough County will adopt lacrosse as recognized varsity sport at several high schools.
Durant has been fighting to throw its name in the hat to be one of those teams but has had a setback because Durant doesn’t have a girls club team or enough interest to form a varsity girls team.
Durant currently is listed in an eight-team District 16 on the FHSAA website for both boys and girls lacrosse for the 2013-14 school year. If the school can pull enough kids, it will be a part of the Hillsborough Area Lacrosse Association, or HALAX, a partnership organization with the FHSAA for lacrosse in Hillsborough County. HALAX will let county teams participate as an FHSAA sport, but it will be “pay for play” — players must pay dues to participate, making the sport self-sufficient from the county school system.
The Cougars Lacrosse Club formed after parents saw a need to have a club team. Although the team was made up of players from various high schools in the area, they carried the name Cougars, because the majority of the players attended Durant. To date, the team has played in the Florida Gulf Coast League, which has about 30 members.
“Some of the parents are from up north and played and watched growing up, so they wanted to pass it down to their kids,” Daniel said. “I grew up up north, and we played it in P.E., but I never really had any real experience with it.”
Although the sport has a strong following up north, it is growing in the Southeast, especially in the Sunshine State.
“It’s growing tremendously — especially here in West Florida,” Daniel said. “It’s big down in the Miami area, as well, at several private schools down there, but (schools) here, (such as) Newsome and Durant, have programs that are growing significantly.”
Contact Matt Mauney at mmauney@plantcityobserver.com.
FIVE FACTS ABOUT LACROSSE
1. It is known as the “fastest sport on two feet” and is considered one of the fastest growing sports in the country.
2. Unlike basketball and soccer, there are significant differences between men’s lacrosse and women’s lacrosse. The men’s game is a full-contact sport and the protective equipment is different between the two.
3. The National Lacrosse League is the highest level of the lacrosse in the United States, but the game is played indoors on a hockey rink that has been converted to artificial turf and consists of teams of six, compared to teams of 10 for the outdoor game.
4. In 2012, there were 61 men’s Division I programs and 92 women’s programs. The NCAA allows a maximum of 12.6 scholarships over four years, while women are allowed 12. These scholarships are mostly divided among players, making “full rides” rare in the sport.
5. The sport is of Native American origin and is believed to be developed as early as A.D. 1100.