Charlie Hardy was beaming just a few days after his Reading Rockets scored its first-ever Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) state championship victory over Concord-Carlisle last month.
The post-game celebration has yet to conclude, according to Hardy. It appears every player on the 2018 roster, as well as their families and friends are still reeling after an exciting 13-9 win against the Patriots.
“A lot of my players are hockey guys, so they have been treating the trophy like it is the Stanley Cup,” said Hardy with a big smile. “They have been taking it to their graduation parties, to their family’s house – you know, their favorite aunt, uncle and grandparent.
“They’re on cloud-nine to tell you the God’s honest truth,” he added.
The ongoing celebration will most likely continue for a few more weeks and months – heck, it could continue until the 2019 campaign commences.
But what makes this particular win so special was these Rockets won the D2 crown for future members of their program – that would be the town’s youth lacrosse program,
which made the lengthy commute to Boston University’s Nickerson Field on an overcast Saturday morning last month to cheer on their hometown heroes to a championship victory.
“We have all these young kids that think our varsity players are rock stars,” said Hardy. “I think if LeBron (James) was standing next to Mike Tobin that Tobin would get more action (from our youth lacrosse players). But you know what I mean.”
Hardy believes the state title has boosted the program’s status. He said the team was a hot program heading into the 2018 season, but now “we’re on fire.”
And what will keep this fire burning is the town’s youth lacrosse program, which consists of 400 players, according to the leader of the Rockets, who welcomed 100 players to a free clinic just days after the team’s triumphant welcome home, which included a police cruiser and fire truck - you can watch the ‘champions welcome’ on Twitter @RocketsLacrosse
The clinic, according to Hardy, was a ‘thank you’ to the young fans that hopped aboard the team’s bandwagon earlier this spring. And they certainly didn’t give up on their hometown Rockets, especially when the team struggled early on. But after a late season setback to Concord-Carlisle in May, Reading found its groove, winning seven consecutive contests, including a state title rematch with the Patriots.
Reading was led all season by the dynamic duo of Tobin and Jack Geiger, along with other youth lacrosse alums. Both Geiger and Tobin will play together at UMass Amherst – one can only imagine what the duo will do at the next level.
“Mike and Jack are super kids, by the way. They are really nice and work hard – it is like having Tom Brady on the team,” said Hardy. “They don’t yell and scream, but they just keep working hard, and they make other people work hard.”
Tobin will return next season – one can only imagine that he would like to cap his high school career with one more state championship. The same could certainly be said for his classmates, including other youth lacrosse alums.
The four-goal victory against the Patriots will continue to be discussed for the rest of the summer between Hardy and his players, but also the town’s youth lacrosse program, too. It is fair to say this particular win has now motivated the program’s players – they will certainly want to follow in the path of their hometown heroes with hopes of bringing Reading more championships in the future.
And one can only imagine what more championships will do, both for the high school and youth lacrosse programs.
“These kids are going to want to play for Reading,” said Hardy. “And hopefully we win another state championship. I think that is in the future. I don’t know if it will be with Coach Hardy, but it is in the future.”
Varsity star Mike Tobin poses with youth program fans in the classroom
The Scoop / Summer '18 17