Lexington Lacrosse Club grew up around W&L’s program. There are still youths getting those same chances today.

Founding father Bill McHenry is quick to point out, "I coached lacrosse; all those other guys did the hard work — Carter McNeese, Sam Kozak, Lew John, George Ray, John Gunn... all of those men helped to organize everything, to raise money, to cover the bases I missed. But I think they enjoyed themselves, too."

Lexingtonian Lew John offers immediate words of assurance, erasing any doubt in McHenry’s statement. Both of John's sons, Andy and Chris, participated in the Lexington Lacrosse Club program for many years before each went on to distinguished collegiate lacrosse careers — one highlighted by the rare opportunity for brothers to go head-to-head on the playing field.

"Our boys grew up in the heyday of lacrosse camps, but there was no opportunity for them to continue to develop their skills in any local school program. The local club opened lacrosse doors for both of them and fueled interest that they maintain to the present," the retired Washington and Lee University Dean of Students and Professor of Politics said recently.

Andy John, an attackman who graduated from Lexington High School in 1980, had specific guidelines governing his choice of college, his father recalled.
"Andy knew what he wanted. He wanted a school with a good lacrosse program; he wanted a school that was co-ed, and he thought it ought to be at least five hours from Lexington."

Defenseman Chris, a 1982 LHS product, had different but no less specific desires regarding his college decision.

"There is no doubt that Coach McHenry and all the people associated with the Lexington Lacrosse Club helped to make it possible for both Chris and Andy to have choices. Lacrosse brought some interesting situations into both of their lives," Lew John added.

Arguably, the most interesting occurred in the spring of 1984 when Division III Denison came to Lexington to play Division I W&L.

"Chris kept telling his W&L teammates that Division III Denison was pretty good. I'm not sure they heard him," said John. "The game was tied into the second half, and then Denison took it to the Generals," he said of the visiting team's 8–5 win.

Andy, now 48, lives in Baltimore and still plays lacrosse in a club league. He also helps coach the Friends School team on which his son, Michael Lewis John, plays.

Chris, 46, lives in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., not too far from his former W&L teammate, Tim Schurr, who played the game at the highest level into his 40s.

John chuckles. "Both boys spent their formative years with the Lexington Lacrosse Club and its rag-tag uniforms and lack of high profile. I don't think the boys who played on that team really noticed. They were wrapped up in learning the game well, not how they looked entering a stadium."

by doug Chase