Identical twins Harry and Thomas Alford know they look physically different from their teammates on the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team and they know their shared experience is different as well.
As black players, their faces stand out in the media guide across the page from the portraits of their white teammates.
But they’re used to it. They played at predominantly white St. Albans School – a private Episcopal prep school in Washington – before joining the Terps.
They understand that the national lacrosse scene at the college level is filled with mostly white players. And with the alleged rape scandal at Duke, the culture of lacrosse has since been in question. This weekend, Harry will face shots from teams with one combined black player. That’s the way it’s been for his entire career.
The Alfords know race isn’t a new issue springing up overnight, but it is at the forefront in their sport after the tensions that have surfaced in Durham, N.C., over the past month.
“A lot of it’s just now being exposed, brought to attention maybe,” Harry said. “Maybe people down there have been going through it for years, but only now is it coming to light. It’s definitely a good issue to bring up for discussion, but I’m definitely glad to be part of this team.”
The Alford brothers are comfortable in the locker room with more than 40 white teammates, and at this university, which prides itself on diversity.
Harry said there isn’t the slightest bit of discrimination or prejudice. His teammates are his “close buddies,” in an environment coach Dave Cottle says is perfect for someone to step onto campus and onto the field.
“It’s a diverse place and we’re trying, as a team, to make it more diverse,” Cottle said. “Last year I think we had four Jewish kids, two black kids, a couple Catholic kids, and they’re all the same. In our locker room, they’re all treated the same, and on this campus they’re treated the same.”
While they were growing up and at St. Albans, Harry and Thomas witnessed the ugly side of the racial element in lacrosse.
“It has and it definitely was a big factor growing up, because you don’t really see too many people of color playing,” Harry said. “At camp and stuff like that, I saw a lot of hatred there.”
An opponent made a racist comment about Thomas once in high school, but Thomas, who didn’t even find out until after the remark was made, said his teammates quickly stuck up for him. The brothers said they haven’t heard racist comments while in college.
When deciding where to attend college, the Alfords wanted to be amongst more people who share their race. They said they picked this university partly because of its diverse student population, which is made up of 32 percent minority men and women, according to the university report from fall 2005.
“We figured if we went to another school like [St. Albans], it would be boring and limited,” Thomas said. “Coming to Maryland, you get a background and education outside the classroom, too.”
The Alfords’ experience of being among the very few black players in high school is indicative of what is a national occurrence at the college level. Of the four men’s lacrosse teams in the ACC, there are less than five black players.
Cottle said he can’t speak for rest of the country, but that his 19 years at Loyola College (Md.) showed him the lack of diversity in the sport. This season, Loyola has one black player.
But as lacrosse grows and becomes more popular, Virginia Athletics Director Craig Littlepage said the exposure of the sport on television has made it more accessible to everyone.
“If we assume that in many cases that a high percentage of the population has access to televisions and to cable, allowing them to see championships – the sport is accessible,” Littlepage said. “Once, I believe, you watch it, those fans will gain an affinity for it. It’s just a matter of time. – One game wont generate new players and new fans; having access will.”
Senior attackman Joe Walters said the sport is already moving into the cities and into areas that wouldn’t have been filled with giant lacrosse fields a decade ago. Last year the championship game was played in Philadelphia. After an NCAA record 44,920 fans flocked to witness the budding sport then, lacrosse will again return to the City of Brotherly Love this year.
With that, and the success of black players like Alford and last season’s Tewaaraton Award winner, Johns Hopkins’ Kyle Harrison, the scope of the lacrosse world is becoming larger.
“Because of all the media attention, because of the pro leagues, guys of different ethnicities are starting to be big players,” Walters said. “It’s really influencing people of all incomes.”
But as the sport tries to soak up national exposure and move into the realm of mainstream sports, there are players like Harry and Thomas Alford. They are playing the same game as Walters and the rest of their teammates, but they have a different point of view from behind their masks, on the field and off of it.
“Other kids never have to worry about stuff like that ever,” Harry said. “You definitely look at it with a different lens from my perspective. You have to persevere; you have to get through it, because there’s people every day who are probably going through the same thing that I am in some way or some other kind of sport.”
Contact reporter Stephen Whyno at whynodbk@gmail.com.
