Lacrosse The Globe

The heat and humidity on the lacrosse field was unbearable.

"I felt like my shirt and pads were suctioning to my body," said Kacy Small. "I couldn't believe it."

Small in October played the game he loved in the most unexpected of places - the sweltering sauna of Thailand.

As a kid, he picked up the game when his father, Kurt Small, started the Pottstown Lacrosse Association for Youth.

"That was like the first youth program in the area," Kacy Small said. "My dad was from Ridley … When he came up here, I got to that age and there was no place to play."

Kacy Small joined the league while he was in seventh grade. When he entered Daniel Boone High School, he found himself again without a team. His father responded by founding the Daniel Boone lacrosse club, which would eventually turn varsity under Kacy Small's leadership.

That coaching position came after four years of club ball at Kutztown.

Today, in addition to being a player on the Thailand national lacrosse team, Kacy Small works as general manager of 422 Sportsplex - a 10,000-square-foot facility on Industrial Highway in Pottstown. He is also an assistant lacrosse coach at The Hill School and owner of the Douglassville-based 380 Lacrosse Club.

A social networking website helped him find his way to the Thai national team.

"It turns out that somebody I knew had a former college teammate who was moving to Thailand to coach," Kacy Small said. "I just saw it on Facebook through people's messages. I just did some research, contacted them and I was in contact with the guy six months before I finally got the invitation to go try out."

That guy - Prantarit Nerngchamnong - is a well-connected sponsor who helps finance and publicize the Thai team, Kacy Small said.

"He's got multiple businesses in Thailand, he's involved with the government," Kacy Small said of Nerngchamnong. "(He's) just a big time promoter of Thailand in general."

Nerngchamnong played lacrosse in the U.S. and started teams in Thailand, Philippines and Singapore, Kacy Small said.

"He gives them unbelievable opportunities," Kacy Small said. "He pays for their practice time, he pays for their equipment. He does a lot of marketing with these big name companies and he gets them to sponsor his team ... just makes sure it's all taken care of so really (players are) just there to learn the game and progress. He wants the team to become really good real fast."

To make that happen, the team uses Division I coaches and plays games against overseas competitors. A mix of collegiate and professional players also helps the Thai team gain strength. 

Support from the Thai team's fan base also motivates the players, Kacy Small said.

"(It's) unbelievable to play in front of actual fans," he said.

Kacy Small's tryout period ended with a game against Hong Kong dubbed The Friendly Cup - a 20-14 win for Thailand. Playing midfield for an amount of time that would be unheard of in the U.S., there where times when Kacy Small almost let exhaustion get the better of him.

"I've never been so physically spent after a game," he said. "I felt like I was completely empty in the third quarter. But it was hard to take a play off. It just meant too much to too many people … The place was packed, they're swinging Thailand flags around, screaming … The coolest thing was playing for something."

That gritty effort in the game against Hong Kong sealed Kacy Small's spot on the team roster.

The players hope to compete in the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse Men's World Championship in Denver. 

"They have all their ducks in a row," he said. "They want to make an impact ... They want to be a household name that gets better and better and better."