Captain Sawyer Moody ’19 has been playing lacrosse since he was two years old.
Co-Captain Sawyer Moody ’19 has been playing lacrosse since the age of two, following in the steps of his father, who also played in high school. According to Moody, his love for the sport stems from his ability to come up with new, unique plays during the games.
“My favorite part is probably the room for creativity. A lot of sports [are] too fast – you can’t really think about what you might want to do during the next play, but you get a lot of time in lacrosse, especially myself as an attacking-mid. When the ball is on the defensive side, you get time to think and talk to your teammates, and I appreciate the creativity that comes with that,” said Moody.
Since joining the team as a new Lower, Moody has learned to value camaraderie and support within a team.
Moody said, “One of the biggest things that I’ve probably learned is the importance of helping your teammates out. When I was a [Lower], our captain was an [Upper], Larson Tolo [’18], and even as [an Upper] he was always picking up the Seniors when they were getting upset about results of games or what not. So as long as you’re helping one another out, it helps a lot in the program.”
According to Assistant Co-Captains Henry Rogers ’19 and Sal Lupoli PG’19, Moody carries the team with his composure on the field, which allows him to make crucial plays during games.
Rogers said, “Sawyer plays with the kind of composure and skill that’s incredibly rare and really valuable to any team. You can always count on him, not only to run the offense the way we want to and execute everything exactly how it’s supposed to be executed, but also to come up with the sort of improvised and highlight-reel plays that gets everyone fired up and that show just how great and effective a player he really is.”
Lupoli said, “Whenever Sawyer gets a ball, he’s going to make a play, so you can always count on him…Whenever you need someone to make a big play or if we’re down by a goal or we need something big to happen, you get the ball in Sawyer’s hand and he’ll make that happen.”
Moody’s knowledge of the game and high level of play motivates his teammates to improve their individual skills, according to Ryan Twomey ’19.
Twomey said, “[Sawyer is] such an elite player and plays at such a high level that myself and my teammates try to follow his lead by upping our own games. Through the first couple games, especially in our game against Rivers, Sawyer put the team on his back and scored multiple clutch goals which motivated all of us.”
As Captain, Moody has enjoyed helping newer players adjust to the team and making close connections with all of his teammates.
Moody said, “Being a Captain, there’s a lot of patience you have to have; you deal with a lot of questions because of the uncertainty that comes with being new. Of course, I remember being new and asking my captain a lot of questions, and that’s the responsibility you have when you’re in a leadership role. My favorite part is definitely the ease with which you get to meet everybody at the beginning of the year, because you’re the captain and people will want to introduce themselves to you. When that happens, you get to open up real new connections that you wouldn’t have necessarily made.”
According to Mike Trannaca ’20 and Rogers, Moody leads through his effort and positive energy, which inspires the team both on and off the field.
In an email to The Phillipian, Trannaca wrote, “Sawyer brings a lot of great qualities to the team as captain. He is our hardest worker, while also setting the best example to lead by on and off the field.”
Rogers said, “[Sawyer is] always the first guy to lift his teammates up and get them going. Everyone on the team loves him and he’s really good at motivating people to work their hardest and to play the best that they can. He’s someone that everyone on the team, and especially the younger guys, can count on to lead us and have our backs on and off the field.”
Moody hopes to use his leadership role as a way to influence younger members on the team for years to come.
Moody said, “I have a lot of personal goals in terms of how I want to be as a leader and how I want to produce, but I’d say the biggest goal I have is probably, for all the young guys, I want to make sure I’m a really strong leader for them because since we have such a young team, I think it’s really important for the Andover Lacrosse culture that they look at me and take what I’ve tried to give to them and what I’ve tried to instill in them and keep that going within Andover Lacrosse.”
