Enjoying longevity in lacrosse

Chuck Jaffe, columnist for New England Lacrosse Journal, playing box lacrosse. (courtesy photo)

Early this month, I’ll start my last game as the regular goalie on my primary lacrosse team.

It’s not that I can’t hold up my end any more, but I’ve always said that I would step away from a team before guys had to push me away.

My plan had been for this to happen a year ago, but injuries cost me the box lacrosse season last winter and I wanted to go out playing rather than watching.

This season, I have played when healthy. I am, by far, the oldest player in the Boston Box Lacrosse League and — thanks mostly to the stellar efforts of the youngbloods on my Bullseye team — have won games against squads where virtually all players are closer in age to my children than me. It’s routine for me to play guys who are younger than my kids.