TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - For Rickards senior Jalin Henderson, his love for his current sport started as a little boy.
"I was scrolling through the channels on TV and I saw the sports, and I was just like, I was baffled by it," he said of the first time he saw the game of lacrosse. "It was just like, this looks amazing- what is it?!"
In his senior season, Rickards was lucky enough to get a team - and a big reason why was because of Jalin.
"The fact that they stepped up, and had that commitment, made it a lot easier on me," said head coach Junior Ramos. "Because of their commitment, and because of their recruiting, that's why we had a team. That was their responsibility and they fulfilled that responsibility perfectly for their first year."
"I never really thought that when I was eight years old looking at it on TV, I never would have thought well, ten years down the line, I'm playing lacrosse!" laughed Jalin.
Jalin moved from attacker to goalie to better help his team, and that leadership carries over to the classroom - where Jalin boasts a 4.1 GPA.
"It really takes a lot, a lot of time," he said of keeping up his grades. "Growing up, when you're going through the world that's going to be basically your number one option. If you don't have your grades, you're not going to get to college and without a college education, there's not really much you can do. You're very limited."
"To be able to say something to somebody and have them recite it to you, it's relieving when you say something to a lot of kids they can't repeat things that you've said," said coach Ramos. "To know that there's someone listening, that there's someone absorbing what you're saying, there's somebody that's valuing the energy you're trying to give them, it's a relief."
Jalin's listening - taking in the sport he's just thankful to be playing.
"We're already in the history books. We helped start the team, so that's enough for me," he said of getting to play his senior year. "Just the people that are coming after us to get a chance to go to the playoffs and get to experience that. I'm just glad I got to help start it."
