None of the 10,000-plus fans at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium thought anything of watching UMBC midfielder Kelvin Moulden run around playing defense in the Retrievers? NCAA quarterfinal game against Delaware Sunday.
Moulden is a black player in a game still dominated mostly by whites. While inroads are being made to diversify the sport, none of those efforts likely will have the social or cultural impact made by 20 Morgan State students in 1970. That year, those players formed the first and only men?s lacrosse team at a historically black college or university.
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One of those players was Dr. Miles Harrison, who co-authored “Ten Bears,” which chronicled the history of Morgan State?s lacrosse program. He will be on hand to discuss the book and efforts to diversify lacrosse at noon Friday in the fifth installment of the “Lunch with Legends” series at Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards, presented by The Examiner.
“Being one of the first in anything gives you a pioneering feeling,” said Harrison, who is currently head of the division of general surgery at Maryland General Hospital. “We have a sense of pride anytime we see an African-American playing lacrosse or giving us a call looking for an opportunity to play the game.”
“Ten Bears” actually came out in 2001, but it didn?t gain much attention until 2005 when Harrison?s son, Kyle, helped lead Johns Hopkins to the NCAA Division I national title. The elder Harrison said Kyle is the greatest thing to come out of the Morgan State lacrosse program.
“Kyle is our most visible legacy,” Dr. Harrison said. “It?s a wonderful experience as an old jock to be brought back into the spotlight thanks to the great accomplishments of your son. Most of the time, when your time is done, you?re done as an athlete.”
Morgan State?s lacrosse program quickly rose to national prominence in its short history. From 1970 to 1975, the Bears ranked in the top 10 in the country four times and twice appeared in the NCAA tournament. But the school dropped the program in 1980, and no other black college has picked up the men?s sport since. Howard (D.C.) fields a women?s lacrosse team.
“Intellectually, I understood the financial and other constraints that led to Morgan dropping the program, but that doesn?t mean I wasn?t disappointed,” Dr. Harrison said.
TICKETS
Tickets for the “Lunch with Legends” event featuring Dr. Miles Harrison are $25 and include a box lunch. They can be purchased by contacting Justin LaRue at 410-727-1539, ext. 3017 or via e-mail at [email protected].
