Late Lax Start Hasn't Hampered Tam's Scott

boys lacrosse coach Jon Porter calls his sport “addicting.”

The story of Red-tailed Hawks lacrosse star certainly supports his description.

Scott, a 6-foot, 175-pound on the Tam football team, watched his friend play a sport totally foreign to him a couple of years ago and decided to give it a whirl.

He’s been hard to separate from his lacrosse stick every since.

“It looked like something I would like,” Scott said of his first impression of the sport, which is much more popular on the East Coast. “It fit my personality.”

If you’re now envisioning Scott as a knock-you-down, macho-man type … well, he says you’ve got the wrong impression of lacrosse.

“When the game is played right, it’s not a rough sport at all,” he assured. “The game can get dangerous without proper gear or with kids who don’t know what they’re doing.

“But at this level, you get moving so quickly, there really isn’t much time for defenders to engage.”

One of the best things about lacrosse, Scott and his coach agree, is that it remains a viable sports option for any athlete looking for a new experience.

“You don’t have to be big, rough guy. Anyone can have an important spot on the team,” Scott claimed.

“(Scott) has set a great example for the athletes at the school who we’re trying to get to come out and play," Porter added. "It does not matter if you haven’t played. If you put the time in, you can move ahead of kids quickly. Kids start playing it and they love it.”

Despite his relative inexperience, Scott is one of the top players in the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL). He has 47 goals and 27 assists in 12 games this season, including a 10-pointer (five goals, five assists) in a 14-8 win over Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa.

Not bad for a guy who, according to Porter, “showed up on my doorstep out of the blue one day asking if I had any equipment for him to get started.”

“He’s a very hard worker and a very athletic kid,” Porter analyzed. “He just has this motor that doesn’t turn off. He’s constantly trying to get better.”

Scott credits his coach not only for the initial push that got him started toward lacrosse stardom but also for pointing him in the right direction.

“Coach Porter has definitely gotten me connected with the lacrosse community,” he noted. “That’s definitely helped me. It’s taught me a lot.”

Scott believes one reason he has caught on so fast is that lacrosse is similar in some ways to other sports he has played.

“I understood the concept of it,” Scott explained of his smooth transition to the new sport. “It’s like basketball … the cutting, setting picks, moving the ball, moving offensively without the ball in your hands, looking for open guys -- simple concepts you develop in other sports.”

The senior likes the sport so much, he’s now turned into a recruiter. He talked into giving the sport a shot, and the Tam quarterback has quickly developed into one of the Hawks’ top players.

Scott will enroll at Boise State in the fall, in part because he has enjoyed watching its football team. But make no mistake about it: Lacrosse is his new first love.

He plans to play on the school’s club team next season.

In the meantime, he has a more immediate goal.

“We’ve been to the semifinals two years in a row,” he said of the MCAL playoffs, which begin May 10. “I definitely want to get to the finals this year.”

TAM BOYS LACROSSE UPDATE

Recent results: Lost to Marin Catholic 15-5 last Saturday; beat San Marin, 17-1; beat San Rafael, 17-3; beat Cardinal Newman (Santa Rosa), 14-8; lost to Redwood, 11-10 (triple overtime).

Tam’s record: 3-3 in MCAL, 7-6 overall.

Highlights: Seniors Brian Scott and have been the offensive standouts, while seniors and have been the top defenders … Kevin Leake and have also been major contributors ... Three surprises this season have been junior midfielders and Graeme Black, and sophomore midfielder Ben Millstein.

Coach Jon Porter’s comments: “We scheduled some really tough games early on because these are the teams that most likely are going to be the contenders for the North Coast (Section) title. We wanted to see where we stood against these teams before we play them, hopefully, at the end of the year. We’re getting better.”

Upcoming schedule: Tuesday at Drake, 4 p.m.; hosts Branson Friday at 5:30 p.m.