A Letter to the Lacrosse Community
Vanderbilt assistant coach Rob Bray penned a letter to the lacrosse community.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt lacrosse assistant coach Rob Bray was asked by IWLCA Communications Director Danie Caro to pen a letter to the lacrosse community.
Where to begin …
Things have changed so much since Danie contacted me a little over a month ago about writing something for the IWLCA. I shared the request with our Vanderbilt staff, we had fun coming up with various ideas but none of those seem appropriate now that world has kind of turned upside down.
No one really knows how long this health crisis is going to last or how much, in the end, it will impact all of our lives, on and off the field. With that said, I would first like to begin with my sincere thanks to my wife and two daughters for allowing me the opportunity to leave Eugene, Oregon, for Nashville, Tennessee, to work with a great staff, administration and university. It has been extremely hard on my family and words can’t express how deeply appreciative I am. They are the best and I am happy to say I am back with them now.
I can’t thank Beth Hewitt enough either. We worked together at the start of the effort to build Oregon lacrosse from the ground up in the fall of 2004, making a pact with each other that she honored in the summer of 2018. From a professional standpoint the last year and a half at Vanderbilt has been some of the best times I have experienced in coaching since my journey began in the spring of 1991.
My heart goes out to all the student-athletes, coaches, administrators, staff, and families across the world who are being impacted by this monumental time in our history. Please do your best to heed the warnings, stay safe, and show kindness to your neighbors. We are in unprecedented times and our lacrosse community has shown in the past that we can rise above times of hardship. When we work together, we can make great things happen. Of course, we don’t know what the future holds, but staying present, in the moment, and doing the things the CDC says can only help mitigate the issues and hopefully get us back to some normalcy. Stay positive, think of all the good times this past season had, even though it was cut short, and hope for the days when we can all get back out there and be a part of the game we love.
Be well,
Rob Bray
Vanderbilt Lacrosse