Q&A with Niceville HS lacrosse player Garrison LeMire
NICEVILLE, Fla. — A Q&A with Niceville High School lacrosse player/North Bay lacrosse player Garrison LeMire.
What are your personal goals within your sport/athletic dreams?
Garrison LeMire: Playing lacrosse in college is definitely the ultimate sports goal for me. I am aware that I have lots of work to do before I am ready to compete at the college level, so I am putting in all of the time, effort, and energy I can right now, to reach that goal. Competing at the college level and building relationships with others (current and future teammates) who have similar goals in the sport has always been a big draw.
What is your biggest challenge in your sport, and what do you do to manage this challenge?
LeMire: In lacrosse, there’s a great deal of very physical aspects that have to do with strength and endurance, as well as being proficient with your stick skills. However, the biggest challenge by far is the mental piece of lacrosse. As a middie, we end up running throughout the game. With all that running, having the mental strength to keep going when you want to take a break is super important. It is also very easy to let even one mistake get inside your head, and this will likely lead to more mistakes. I am able to keep going and maintain a good attitude by taking a step back and realizing that my teammates are counting on me to do my job on the field, just as I count on them. This reminds me that being there for my teammates is much more important than whether or not I am tired and could use a break.
What was the best advice you were ever given?
LeMire: The best advice I have heard so far, comes from Admiral McRaven’s Book “Make Your Bed” which suggests to start each day by simply making your bed. This act will start the day with a task completed, which will inevitably lead to even more tasks completed. It has also taught me to do the small things right which will also help me in doing the big things right. Then, if by chance I have a bad day, I come home to a nicely made bed and an accomplishment that I can see that I have achieved during the day.
What do you love about your sport?
LeMire: The thing that I love about lacrosse is that it requires a perfect mix of physical and mental strength. I have come to learn that I will not reach my full potential in lacrosse if I have one and not the other. It is a very taxing sport physically, and I love that it pushes me to work very hard to stay physically fit as well as mentally fit.
Do you have a pregame ritual you follow?
LeMire: I am not a very superstitious person, so I don’t worry too much about doing the exact same thing before each game. However, I always listen to a playlist that I made to get into the right state of mind and I always say a quick prayer before stepping onto the field.
What do you like to do outside of your sport?
LeMire: Outside of lacrosse, I love to do anything outdoors. I enjoy fishing, whether it be in ponds or in the ocean. I also love to freedive and scuba dive with my family. Traveling and experiencing new cultural things has played a big role in our family as we have traveled to 45 countries so far, and it quickly became one of my favorite things to do throughout my childhood and still to this day.
What has being a member of a team taught you?
LeMire: Being on a team has taught me a number of things, but the most important is that you don’t play for yourself. Being part of a team, I end up spending a good bit of time with my teammates at practice and in other settings. I have created great bonds with my teammates, and when we step out onto the field at game time, we are one team and one fight. We are all there to do our best for the team and we have each other’s backs.
What is the best piece of advice you received from a coach or mentor?
LeMire: The best advice, given to me by one of my lacrosse coaches, was that “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t want to work”. This resonated with me and reminds me that there are no shortcuts! I must work hard to achieve my goals on and off the field, in practice and in game time.
Describe a mistake you made while competing and how you overcame it.
LeMire: A big mistake that I made while competing was getting too confident. By getting too confident I put a roof on myself and I found I didn’t prepare as much as I needed. I was able to correct this by treating every game scenario and practice like I am the underdog. In games, if our team is winning, we treat all scenarios like the score is zero to zero to keep ourselves from becoming complacent.
Anything else you’d like to add?
LeMire: My approach to anything I do, including lacrosse, is to work hard in everything and eventually that hard work will pay off, no matter what.
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