Persistence paid off for St. Ed’s senior Kevin Murphy when he began his search for a college with a lacrosse net in need of protection. It was the sport he tried at a relatively young age and it grew into a love affair when he entered high school.
Following his mother’s career path, Murphy was born in Aiken, South Carolina, and lived there through second grade. He moved to Louisville, Kentucky, for several years before coming to Florida and St. Ed’s in time for eighth grade.
“I was introduced to lacrosse in third grade, but I didn’t start playing on a real team until fifth grade at my old school,” Murphy recalled. “When I moved here it had never been the main sport for me. Then it really took off and I’ve loved it ever since.”
Murphy will graduate soon and his next academic destination is Berry College in Rome, Georgia – a picturesque setting midway between Atlanta and Chattanooga. It will be a smooth transition in terms of mascots. He will leave as a Pirate to become a Viking. More significantly, an exhaustive email search resulted in an extraordinary reunion.
“It’s kind of interesting,” Murphy said. “I started my college search in the summer before my junior year. I went around for weeks looking at different colleges. Then I decided to reach out and contact the lacrosse coach from my fifth- and sixth-grade team.”
“I found out that he had moved on to coach at Center College in Kentucky, but his email there was no longer active. I did a little more research and discovered that he was at Berry College. I emailed him and a month later I was on campus for a visit. It was really cool. I ended up reconnecting with an old coach and that’s I how I found Berry. I’m excited about playing there next year.”
Murphy plans to tend goal for the Vikings like he did for the Pirates. It took some time to find the right fit on the field, and a major adjustment was required before he finally settled in.
“When I started playing in fifth grade I was a midfielder because that’s where everyone starts,” Murphy said. “I realized quickly that I wasn’t very good at middie. My older brother Matt had played goalie so I tried that. At first I thought I was really bad.”
“I’m right handed in everything, but then just messing around one day I put the stick in my left hand and it felt natural. So I just went from there and I’m a left handed goalie, but that’s the only thing I do left handed.”
Playing goal in lacrosse can be a lonely and challenging task, however Murphy’s personality is a perfect fit. “My first coach said it takes a special kind of crazy to be a goalie,” Murphy told us. “I’ve kind of lived by that ever since. Making a save can be really lucky sometimes.”
Soccer, swimming and cross country were also on the sports menu for Murphy in high school. He and his brothers Matt and Liam were serious taekwondo athletes pre-Florida, but they were unable to find a competitive outlet when they arrived.
“So that fell off the radar for us,” Murphy explained. “Matt took up swimming and he is now swimming at Franklin & Marshall College. Since he jumped into the pool my parents threw me in there, too. As it happens I’m not as good as my brother, but it’s something I like to do. The people and coaches were very nice and I really enjoyed it.”
He was a varsity swimmer for four years and became one of the athletes shared with the cross country team over the past two seasons.
“They are smaller teams and not the most popular sports at school,” Murphy said of swimming and cross country. “So by combining them we were able to expand both rosters and help these teams thrive over the past two years.
“I wouldn’t say I enjoyed cross country because I’m not the best runner. I can show you a good way to lose a cross country meet.”
A freshman-year void between swimming in the fall and lacrosse in the spring needed filling. “I didn’t really like that because I had a lot of extra time that I really didn’t manage well,” Murphy said. “I did better when I had something going on, which always meant I was able to manage my time better.”
So as a sophomore Murphy tried out for the soccer team and became a starter that season despite having never touched a soccer ball before.
“I’m not really sure about what I want to study in college,” Murphy said, “I’ve been coaching club lacrosse (younger brother Liam’s team) for a few years. I really enjoy helping kids and passing on the knowledge I have.
“I’ve thought about teaching in middle school, but my end goal is coaching lacrosse. I almost enjoy coaching more than playing.”
