Player Jack Dowd Will Be Honored At Holmdel Lacrosse Game Friday

HOLMDEL, NJ — There will be a special event scheduled tonight, Friday, April 6, before the Holmdel-Middletown North boys lacrosse game to honor the memory of Holmdel player Jack Dowd.

On Sunday evening, September 17, 2017, Dowd, a junior at Holmdel High, tragically died while playing in a travel lacrosse game on the Rutgers campus. He collapsed during the game. It was learned soon thereafter that Dowd had been born with a genetic heart condition that would have been virtually impossible to diagnose beforehand.

Dowd was extremely passionate about lacrosse, and he played a midfielder position for the Holmdel High Hornets varsity team. He was #9. His father, Sean Dowd, is an English teacher at the high school, too.

As the 2018 Holmdel high school lacrosse season gets underway tonight, the Holmdel community plans to come together to honor Jack's memory. There will be a ceremony tonight, and continuing scholarship fundraising campaign as Jack’s team hosts Middletown North.

“We would like to have as many students and teachers present to support the Dowd family and the lacrosse community as we remember our beloved Jack," the boys lacrosse team said.

The game begins at 7 p.m. at Roggy Field at Holmdel High School. Past Patch reporting: Holmdel Lacrosse Player Died Of Undetected Heart Defect, Family Says

Jack's condition is known as arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, or ARVD, a genetic heart condition that usually affects teens and young adults. ARVD is uncommon, occurring in about 1 in 5,000 people, but it's also the leading cause of sudden death in young athletes, according to the American Heart Association.

"He was on the field playing a sport he had grown to love, with teammates and friends he had come to admire and draw strength from. Right before he collapsed, he was laughing with these friends on the sidelines, with that smile that we all loved and adored. He never regained consciousness, he never started breathing again. But he left this world with a smile on his face, and we would like to remember him that way," his parents wrote at the time.

Working with experts in the field of pediatric cardiology, Holmdel's Athletic Director Shane Fallon is currently setting up a free cardiac screening for the community later this spring.

Photo of Jack provided by the Holmdel school district.