New Men's Lacrosse Team Poised to Hit the Turf

It's been an exciting year for Westwood sports, most recently for the Westwood High School girls lacrosse team, in a 15-9 victory over Longmeadow in the State Finals on Friday. 

But now, with the high school varsity sports season all wrapped up, another group of lacrosse players are getting ready to hit the field. 

Dubbing themselves "Aged Wood," a new team of about 35 Westwood men have formed the first 40-and-older men's lacrosse team. 

Westwood resident John Hauck, who started the team, said an initial attempt was made in 2010 to get the group organized, but impending deadlines restricted anything from taking place.

"The conversations started up again this year in early February, and by the beginning of April, approximately 20 Westwood dads, who were former high school and/or college players, joined up," Hauck said. 

Aged Wood will play within the Old New England Lacrosse League (O.N.E.L.L.), which was formed in 2004 and now comprises about 20 teams from Eastern Massachusetts, Southern New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. The season runs through August, when a playoff series will begin.  

"We believe by playing, it sends our kids a great message that this is a wonderful team game, and you can play it throughout your life," Hauck said. "For us old timers, it's not only great exercise, but we get to meet a new group of guys, we can still be as competitive as we want, and we all simply love to play lacrosse."

Hauck himself played the sport at Noble and Greenough in Dedham, as well as through his college years at the University of South Carolina as part of a Division 1 Club Team. He's also played with various club teams throughout New England. 

Likewise, players on the team have participated in the sport at various colleges, Hauck said, including UMass, Brown University, Bentley University, University of Oxford, Babson College, and Northeastern University, among others. 

"The great thing is that we all have a natural bond as a group, based upon a truly unique sport for those of us who grew up playing lacrosse in the 1970s and 80s," Hauck said. "Now, as we watch our kids, lacrosse is rapidly becoming the spring sport of choice, and is clearly in the mainstream today."

Among the players on the roster are as well as Bob Rich, the president of Westwood Youth Lacrosse. 

"It's a great sport," said Rich, who played the sport through his college years as an undergraduate at Springfield and later as a graduate at UCLA. "It's a lot of fun. I've been playing it for 38 years; all three of my kids play. Even though the sport is growing really fast, it's still a small community of people. I was just happy to hear that there were that many guys in Westwood who wanted to play and who expressed an interest."

Aged Wood hits the turf for its first game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against the Stale Blue Donuts from Chelsea. 

In terms of how the season might pan out, Rich said he's got an optimistic viewpoint. 

"Hopefully, we'll all survive," Rich said. "And be able to go to get up and go to work the next day after games. I don't know how competitive it is. Based on practices, there seems to be a good level of talent on our team."

For more about Aged Wood, click here.