Undersized Jeong Looms in Goal for BHS Lacrosse

His opponents don’t have to say anything. Colin Jeong, Burlingame High’s undersized lacrosse goaltending standout, can just tell he’s routinely underestimated.  

“I always feel like they’re looking at me and they’re like, ‘Easy game,’” said Jeong, a 5-foot-6 115-pounder.

Fueled by his determination to prove his doubters wrong, Jeong, a competitive youth swimmer who’d literally never picked up a lacrosse stick until high school, has become a revelation for Burlingame’s burgeoning program.

The Panthers have produced seven collegiate-level players and have had winning records every year since the program’s inaugural season in 2006. They made their first Central Coast Section playoff appearance last year, losing to eventual champion Palo Alto 7-6 in a hotly-contested first-round game in which the game-winning goal was scored in the last minute.

Jeong, a senior, averaged 4.5 goals against in the Panthers’ first four games. He’s a big reason Burlingame is off to a strong 4-1 start (1-1 in Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division play) entering the week.

Jeong, a butterfly specialist, had been swimming competitively for years hoping to be a part of Burlingame’s perennially dominant program, but abruptly quit the team freshman year because “it just didn’t click” with coaches and teammates.

He shopped other sports programs, and it took him all of five days to settle on lacrosse at the prodding of friends on the team who told him he’d get a chance to play because of low turnout.

“I was pretty excited,” Jeong said. “I’d seen (lacrosse) on ESPN a few times and I was like, ‘What is this game?’

“I really didn’t know very much about it, but I definitely wanted to try something new.”

And before he really had a chance to figure things out, Jeong went from a chain sporting goods store to a competitive field.

“It was overwhelming at first,” he said. “I was like, ‘What do I have to do? What position?’

“I had no idea about the rules or anything.”

Jeong started out playing middy on the junior varsity team freshman year. Halfway through the season he asked his coaches during a blowout if he could play some goalie – an especially unpopular lacrosse position because of the nearly constant bombardment of two-pound rubber balls on your body.  

Jeong got his chance, and his coaches apparently liked what they saw.

“A couple of days later in practice, one of my coaches said: ‘Time to go. You’re the goalie now,’” Jeong said.

The job of defending that 36-square-foot box is typically reserved for taller players, and Burlingame coach Clark Fisher said smaller goalies are at an inherent disadvantage.

“That (smaller) goalie has to be very active and very quick in order to do the same amount of saving as someone who’s twice his size,” Fisher said.

Jeong, an academic standout who wants to eventually become a lawyer, turned to his smarts to help him overcome that challenge, becoming a student of the game and attending summer goalie camps.

“A lot of guys don’t have to move, but with me I have to have the right angle,” Jeong said. “I need to see where they’re shooting from and adjust to them.”

His efforts have paid off. Jeong figured in a dual-goalie rotation last season, and has won the starting job this year.

“He’s 5-foot-6, but he plays like he’s 9-feet tall,” Fisher said.

Jeong admits he’s met doubters at every turn of his development, but he says they’ve only made him more determined.

“I always felt like I was going to show them that the little people can do it,” he said.

Jeong’s success has made him an inspiration.

“He’s a great kid and he’s become one of the physical and emotional leaders on our team,” Fisher said.