From Burnout to Breakthrough: Nick Tintle's Lacrosse Journey, Part II.

In this episode of 'Get the Lax Scoop,' hosts Big Dawg and Jaybird continue their interview with Nick Tintle, a two-time UNC All-American midfielder, MLL Champion, and extraordinary skills trainer. Nick shares his inspiring journey from a collegiate athlete to a professional lacrosse player, detailing his struggles, setbacks, and ultimate triumphs. He recounts how his passion for coaching reignited his desire to compete, leading to an eventual MLL championship with the Denver Outlaws at age 30. Additionally, he discusses his venture into entrepreneurship, owning multiple gyms, and ultimately founding the Lacrosse Barn, a premier lacrosse facility in Dallas, Texas. Tune in to hear how Nick's relentless dedication and the support of various mentors helped shape his remarkable career.

00:00 Introduction to Get the Lax Scoop

00:23 Meet the Hosts and Guest

00:59 Welcome Back and Interview Setup

01:26 Nick Tintle's Journey: From Coaching to Playing Again

03:12 The Comeback: Trials and Triumphs

06:30 Joining the Denver Outlaws

09:36 Challenges and Setbacks

11:44 Pushing Through Injuries

16:23 Unexpected News and Determination

17:02 Playoff Journey and Full Circle Moments

17:44 Championship Victory and Emotional Toll

20:38 Opening the Lacrosse Barn in Dallas

21:57 Entrepreneurial Challenges and Growth

25:40 Support and Serendipity

26:49 Reflecting on the Journey

31:30 A New Beginning in Dallas

NEW BOOK!
Inside the Recruiting Game: Insights From College Lacrosse Coaches
-Available on Amazon.com as an Ebook and paperback


Links to training videos:
Master The 5 Best Dodges From the Wing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_7LDOcQQ6Q&t=88s

Blazing Shots... on the Run!
https://youtu.be/XiptPlM63oQ

Check us out...

On YouTube @jaymcmahonlax23
On Instagram @jaymcmahonlax23
On Facebook @: facebook.com/jmcmahonlax23. Page name: Jay McMahon Lacrosse

Check out!... Coach Tintle's Lacrosse Barn:

https://g.co/kgs/eXedCXf

SuccessHotline with Dr. Rob Gilbert on Ironclad & Apple Podcasts

Brian Cain Daily Dominator on Apple Podcasts

Jon Gordon Positive U. Podcast on Spotify

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck, PhD on Amazon.

Lacrosse Charities Mentioned in S2 E36:
https://www.4thefuturefoundation.org/

https://www.harlemlacrosse.org/

https://15forlife.org/

Transcript

0:00

It's time for Get the Lack Scoop, a podcast bringing you all the people and stuff you should know in the game of lacrosse. We take lack seriously, but ourselves, not so much. Join host Big Dog and Jaybird and the biggest names in the game brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's JML skills, mindset, and lacks IQ training. Ron Doglish, the big dog, was a collegiate football and lacrosse player at Brown. He was also an assistant lacrosse coach and the executive director of the Sports Foundation. And Jay McMahon, the Jaybird, a three time All American midfielder at Brown. He was the captain of the U. S. Junior National Team and is the founder of JML. And Joining us in the studio, Steve Grisolfi, who's collegiate lacrosse career statistics equals one goal against Dartmouth brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's JML skills, mindset, and lacks IQ training, helping the next generation of lacrosse players get to the next level

MacBook Pro Microphone: 1:00

Welcome back everyone for another episode of Get the Lack Scoop. We are super excited to release the second portion of our interview series with two time UNC, all American MLL Champion and Skills trainer extraordinaire. Nick Tinel. If you have not listened to the first installment, we highly recommend you go back and do so as it ties in beautifully with this episode. You'll find this interview in progress.

1:26

Tend to tell people, you know, like we call it the medicine game and yeah, I never really paid attention to that or understood that, but I 100% believe that it was the perfect antidote for me at that time. Right. It got me back, it got a stick back in my hand. I was making$10 an hour. I was eating subway for lunch and dinner. So I was by, at the time it was$5 foot longs I was close to be. So I would order a$5 foot long and cut it in half, you know, have half for lunch and half for dinner. Barely have enough gas in my car to get to and from work. But I loved what I was doing. I was coaching kids, I was teaching'em speed, teach'em strength, getting some, some you know, some hours logging strength and speed, and then doing the lacrosse on the side and building the lacrosse thing. And then I start, you know, start getting these kids really good at lacrosse. And I'm, I'm starting to gain momentum and then I go to a couple games and watch. And then I started, you know, I was coaching a club team. I was coaching high school, and then I'm like on the sideline and I'm like getting more nervous than the kids are. And I'm like, those butterflies are like, I want to, I wanna compete again. I wanna play again. And that kind of led me back to my, my journey back to the professional ranks. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, that you're cueing us right into the next question. This is beautiful'cause that, that was the question where we can see in your resume where, you know, you took a break from lacrosse you didn't play competitively yourself for a number of years and wasn't sure how many, but I'm sure you can tell us exactly six or eight. But then there you are playing for the Denver Outlaws and and then I knew, you know, just from looking into some of these other interviews that you had this kind of burning desire'cause you hadn't won that championship. So, so tell us that whole story, like why you wanted to get into it and then those first couple years and then you finally hit pay dirt, you know, in 2018. So, yeah, I, I mean it all came back from coaching. So I'm watching the kids play and I'm just getting a burn desire to play again. So I I was like, you know what, I'm at a gym. I'm working out, I'm in great, great shape. Yeah, I haven't, you know, I didn't play competitively for six years. You know, the stick was in my hand a little bit for, you know, so four years, didn't touch a stick. The next two years I had a stick in my hand, but I was just coaching or a year. And then I was like, you know what, why not? Why not just go try out? So 2014, I tried out for the Chesapeake Bay Hawks okay. Not having any, at that time, my goal was just to step on an MLL field, just to step on a professional field and play. Right? So just get on a roster, play in a game, and that's it. I wanted to play in one game. I didn't even have to play a season like that was just the, the simple goal. Mm-hmm. So I worked my ass off. I went to Chesapeake Bay Hawks at that time they had Matt Abbott and then Reynolds, who just played for the USA team as D Mids. And I knew that I was gonna be a d Middy at this point because, you know, the offensive stuff. You know, I, I don't, I didn't see myself competing. I was a little rusty and stuff like that, but I knew I could play defensive transition score if I had to. So I, I went out for defensive million and I knew who was ahead of me, so I didn't have high expectations, but I was gonna give it my best shot. I made it to the last round of tryouts there. Coach Coddle calls me. He was with the s he calls me, he goes, we're gonna find you as spot on this team. He had a great tryout, all this stuff. The guys on the team I played against and in college and, you know, they, they knew me and they're like, like I took a stick that like, I found, like, it was like an old dusty stick. Mm-hmm. It was taped all the way up. Like, it was just disgusting. Guys were like, looking at me like, what is that? What so I made it the last round. I got cut the last round. But it, it, it was, it hard? Yeah, it was hard, but I was like, you know what? I, I just proved myself after not playing for six years competitively. I'm playing with some of the best guys in the world. I'm like, that's a pretty, that's a pretty good indication that you can make it if you want. Keep pursuing this. Right. I went back, I went back to work and I, I didn't think about it. But they had this LXM Pro League. In California with the Xander Ritz and Max Ritz and Kyle Harrison was in Peter Baum. Oh yeah. Some high level players, but it was more of like a globe trotter style thing. So I, so I call up Xander and and, and Kyle Harrison, they, they, they welcome me with open arms. They needed to fill out teams and stuff. So I show up and play and I played for the next year or two for that. And it was super fun.'cause it wasn't every weekend. It wasn't like a red eye in a red eye out. It was, you know, we went to pretty cool air. Like we went to Utah, we played in California. We played at like really cool venues. And it just got me back into the swing of things like get, just like, get the rust off and play high level lacrosse. But it wasn't serious and it was just super fun. Right. It just, it, it made me fall in love with the sport again. It wasn't, it wasn't, at that time, it wasn't about winning championships, it was just about being back in that, that. Locker room with the, with the guys and, and playing at a high level and, and having fun with it. I just wanted to find my desire for it again. And that's what kind of Alex Mpro did. Now, Alex Pro folded in 2015 or 2016. So I, at that point now, now it's like, all right, I still haven't stepped on a professional lacrosse field though. Like, Alex M Pro was a professional globe truck, but it wasn't the professional league. It wasn't the mm-hmm. Well, it wasn't, you know, that type of league. So I was like, you know what? I made it this far, you know, I'm in good shape. Let me, let me go try out for another team. So the closest team to California is Denver Outlaws. So they have, every year they have an open tryout for anyone and everyone. There was some 50 year olds out there checking off bucket lists, you know, things, right. There was some high level like kids right outta college that just wanted to, you know, didn't get drafted but wanted to play. Right? So it was a mix of talent. 103 guys. BJ O'Hara, John Cohen and Tony Seman are in the middle. They bring us in. All the other guys not like, not stretching. I'm stretching like a madman'cause I'm getting older. So we, we stand around, there's 103 guys and literally BJ O'Hara goes, we're gonna be honest with you, we're taking one or two guys to camp and that's it. So I look around, I'm like, I gotta a little hill to tie. Wow. But here's where I separate myself. It's like, this is where I knew my role was gonna be. I knew who was on that Denvers team. I knew the mids, I knew who I had to go against. Mm-hmm. What was the d mids looking like? So they separate I goal here, defense here, mids there, defensive mids over here. Me and four other guys, three other guys go to the d MIDI section. Now I know, all right, I'm competing against this. And hopefully they, they need, you know, some depth at the D MIDI position. So anyway, I, I show my athleticism, my ball out. I do really, really well. They take me and one other guy that played at Delaware and play EmPro Pro on the. And and I, that's crazy. Well, at camp, I actually, I'm playing and I'm kind of like, you know, I'm the older guy at camp, one of the older guys on the team. And how old were you at this point? 30. Right. So you're coming in, you're, you'd be like a rookie, basically 30-year-old league, right? Right. At 30. That's, that's amazing. So I, I'm playing against Drew Schneider and he crosses me up and I, like, I didn't wanna hurt anyone. I, like, I, I was still like the low man on the to pole, so I didn't wanna, like, I wanted to be a part of the team when I wasn't even on the team yet, right? Mm-hmm. So Coach Seaman, channel. You're allowed to crosscheck in this fucking league. Will you crosscheck this? So the next time I go out, I wrap my stick around Drew Schneider. I'm like, I'm apologizing to him, but I broke my stick across his back. He flew the ball, comes out, I make a good play, whatever. And, and Tony, soon wass, like, that's all we're talking about. I'm like, I ended up making the squad, I ended up making the team. I had a great tryout. I play in, and again, this is my, my, so I, I've reached my goal. I'm gonna play in an MLO game. Mm-hmm. That first game I have to cover Jimmy Bidder as an, at, like, it's short stick on a, an attack man. Great. You won't see man. Right. But, but first grade assignment for my first game in pro. So I'm, I'm nervous now. I gotta guard an attack man. I did pretty well. We won our first game. It was an awesome experience to walk out on in, you know, Denver Bronco Stadium. It was like, you're playing in an FL stadium and you know, that was cool. A year old rookie. I didn't play for six years, whatever it may be. And it was a cool comeback story. And then. And then, then you're, then you're a part of the team and you're like, all right, we wanna win. Yeah. We ended up losing the next two or three games, and then I find myself not, they didn't travel me, so they call me like, Hey, we're gonna leave you off the roster. We're gonna travel some other guys and try some other guys and try to switch this thing around. Now you guys all know MLL like would go into like college season, and then they would, they would, they would get college kids after they graduated. So they brought in Matt Kavanaugh and Jack Kelly and Goal, and they brought in a couple other pieces brown team that year that had a good run. And all of a sudden I'm watching from home and they're turning the season around and they're, you know, everybody in the league is. Eight and eight or you know, nine and seven. Everyone's like close. So like it comes down to like the last game and they were so bad, but they fought the, so they get the fourth seat going into playoffs and I'm watching at home and they win their first playoff game. And then they are playing in I think it was Kennesaw State. They were playing Ohio machine. And Scotty Rogers is in gold for Ohio. And Steve Walden also I played high school with, is playing for Ohio machine. So I'm watching the game and they're killing the outlaw. They're up by like 11 goals at halftime, but then they have a rain delay. And the rain delay was like a two, two and a half hour rain delay. Denver comes back out and claws the way back in and wins the game. Holy cow. So, wow. I'm sitting there at home being like, I was a part of a team that just won a championship. Now I'm like never wanted, never won in high school. I've never won in college. I've never wanted to pro. It's like the only thing missing is my rent. So I, I was like, after I got like, you know, I was done, I got cut, I was like, know what? I did it, I made it back to the pro level. I'm good. Like how many, right? How many people could say as a 30-year-old rookie, they made a, a pro team? Like, that's not, it's not a real, it's not, doesn't happen often, right. So, yeah, for sure. But the problem is, is that now I don't have a ring and I just saw my team win. So now I have a different obsession. Oh, I still haven't done that. So that goes on my mirror in my bathroom win MLL title or win a a pro title. So I got back to work. I didn't know if the outlaw staff was gonna call me back. I didn't know if I was in their future plans, but they had different plans for me. They thought they, you know, they got my feet wet year one. And they invited me back to camp and I pull my hamstring in Camp Tony Seaman. I, I thought it was over. I thought it was done. And Tony Seaman comes in the locker room and goes, you gonna, you, you gonna be all right by Saturday? I was like, in a week, like, the only thing I can say without losing my job is yes, I'll be ready. So I was like, yeah, I'll be ready. Now I own the gym at this time. So I have my chiropractor, so he works on me two hours, three hours a day to get me, geez, practice some sort of percentage so I could at least run a little bit. And I play in the first game and then play in the second game, third game. And you know, my hamstring starts to heal a little bit each time I play in the full season. Where the best team in the MLL we're number one seed. We already are in playoffs. It's coming down to the last game against Rochester Rattlers. So this is 2017. It's my second year in the league. We playing Rochester Rattlers and there's a ground ball scrum and I get pushing behind. I land on my wrist, I roll over my wrist and I palm my elbows, snapping my wrist in half. Oh man. I come off to the sideline and I tell the trainer, I'm like, I snapped my wrist in half. And he's like, he looked at it, he goes, seems all right to me. I'm like, okay it up. Play the rest of the game. Play the rest of the game. I knew it was bad. We were in Rochester, we flew back. Now you could tell the state of the league we flew into Iowa. For a layover. We're in this little right Iowa airport, and I go up to my trainer and I put my hand right in front of his face. I'm like, you sure this ain't broken? And it was right a balloon probably with the atmospheric pressure change in the, in the airplane. Totally. I, I knew it was broken the whole time. So anyway, we, we, we, we land in Denver and I go to see Dr. Ol, who's our, our surgeon. And he looks at it, he goes, yeah, he definitely broke it. He goes, let's look at it. I tore every ligament in my wrist. I broke my back away. I broke a bunch of other things. So you know, this is right before playoffs. Now I'm, I'm obsessed with winter ring. We're the number one seed. We had the best team ever, best doctor I've ever been a part of. I'm right there. And now I'm, so they sit me down and I pleaded my case. I go, I, I told him, I was like, I will do anything to plan. I, I was crying on the phone with Coach Seaman. He could tell you I was begging. I was like, I'll sign a release waiver that, you know, you guys are not liable for me, you know, doing any more damage. I'll sign whatever you want. They finally just, you know, talked to me, talked some sense, and me like, you could lose the use of your hand and in your profession, that's not gonna be good. So mm-hmm. We sat down and then you know, we, I, I went to the first game. They flew me out to the first game. We played Rochester again. We beat them. We, we go play Ohio machine in a rematch in 2017 at the Star in Dallas. Oh wow. And I'm sitting on the sideline and I can't tell you how hard that was to sit on the sideline. Yeah. Watch your watching that catch your game when all you want to do is be a part of something like that. Right. Probably the hard, one of the hardest things, you know, besides the other things I shared, that was the second hardest thing in my life at that point. Mm-hmm. And I watch'em lose, we lose by two or three goals or something. It was a close game, but we lost, we go in the locker room, there's some, there's some older guys, Matt Bley and guys like that, that are thinking about hanging up the cleats and. Moving on. And I, I'm, I'm pleading, I'm like, one more year. One more year, guys. Let's, let's run it back one more year. We gotta get, like, you know, they just lost the game. They're not in that mode to listen to me asking because I didn't play. But it's one of those situations where I think if I played, I could have had a, an outcome on that game, A different outcome. That game now, obviously, I don't know, could have been worse. We don't know. But you know, guys came back, I came back for one more year, 2018. Now I'm 32 years old. We're struggling all year. We're up and down. We're in the mix, but not, you know, we're not the team. We were the year before. We're trying to figure out pieces and, and move some things around. We got Chris Guttier in the, in the draft, which helped us. And you know, we, we started turning things around, but now we're in the middle of the season and Jack Kelly's playing for you at team USA and he tears his ACL. That's our star goal. Yeah. So now I'm like, no. Yeah, right. Just lost our starting goalie. So anyway, it wasn't as big of a deal as, as, as it may seem, because our backup goalie was also Team Canada's goalie. Dylan Ward. Oh man. Yeah. Geez, not a bad backup. Yeah, you can't, you can't beat that. Dylan Wards, you know, you know, he's got a lot of race. He's legit. Right. So, anyway, long story short, I know I'm going far with this, but No, this is great. But it's a workers' comp claim for my wrist. So in the offseason, I, I rehabbed that at my own gym and I got it back to like 70%. I just pretty much duct taped it or just like, you know, wrapped it. Every game they call me and they say, Hey, we're gonna close your case because you haven't gone to the doctor, you haven't got surgery or whatever. So I go, well, I'm gonna have to get surgery in the off season for sure. I just postponed it because I didn't want to be late to the next season. So they're like, all right, go see your, go see your surgeon. And and he'll send us, and this is like during the season, or this is right before our last game, so we're playing. Oh, my plays, it's our last game of the season. Whoever wins that game gets a bid to the playoffs. Oh man. Yeah. So I have to play in that game. So that week before I go to the surgeon and I, I get a, a, an X-ray and stuff, and he comes in the room and he look at him. I'm like, what's up? He goes, I got good news. Bad. Don't, don't tell me you're about to tell me. He goes, you want, you want the bitter or bad for somebody? Just gimme the news. He goes, your, your wrist healed from last year. He goes, however, somehow you broke it in another spot this year. Oh, okay, we're gonna have to shut you down. And I'm like, stop. This conversation is not gonna leave this room. No one from Denver Outlaws is gonna find out about this and I'll be back on Monday or whenever to have surgery, but I'm not, fuck, you're not fucking telling a word. And to say it lightly, I might've threatened his life. I wasn't gonna, I wasn't sitting out no matter what. Right. Just didn't tell, I didn't tell anyone on the team. I didn't tell the coaches. I wrapped it up a little bit tighter for Atlanta Blaze. We ended up winning. Get into playoffs. And this is the funny thing about lacrosse, Atlanta Blaze. This is where it comes full circle. Atlanta Blaze was the team. I got cut year one in 2016. That was the last game I played as a professional. When I first got there, we beat the, this, the first round of playoffs was against the Chesapeake Bay Hawks, I believe. They were the number one seed. And the team favored to win everything. It's the team that cut me in 2016. We ended up beating them by one goal, or maybe even overtime, game to get to the championship game. And then we end up playing the Rochester Rattlers, who I broke my wrist against in 2017 and got shut down. So, geez, the, the story comes full circle where I, where I'm kind of checking these things off and, and you know, it's a storybook ending. We end up winning in 2018. We beat Rochester. They beat us twice during the year they were stacked. My job responsibility was Ned Crotty. A toured an award winner. Yeah. Attacking a short, I was like, you know, I was like, that's insane. Don't mess this up for the team. Right. But I remember. The road that that took the, the emotional toll that took on me and just my body. Like I broke my ribs during that year as well. Like I fractured geez ribs. Like it was UNC on UNC crime too. It was Austin Piani for the Long Island lizards. I got buddy passed, so he left his attack man and destroyed me. Oh my God. Made him buy me drinks all night that night. I was like, dude, right. It almost killed me. But anyway, storybook ending. I won my championship, I got my ring. And it was just, it was one of the most special things I've ever been a part of, but it was emotionally draining and physically draining. Obviously I'm older now and like, like I was only three years in the league, but I broke a lot of bones. I went coach of getting cut, breaking my wrist, making it, not making it going back and forth. It was tough, but I mean, that journey was, was crazy. It was, it was awful. How did it feel to hold that championship trophy? So that's what I'm getting do. So I get, so we win the game, they're making the announcement, whatever, and I'm staying with the team. The captains are go getting, go, getting the trophy. And, and I'm gonna say this, the Denver Outlaws organization was the best. Best team I've ever played for Best Locker Room. That's cool. It was just a really tight knit group. And that first game in 2016, coach Seman called me Tinkle. So became a thing in 2018, like get Tinkle a Ring.'cause they all knew my story and how much I was like putting in this and what I needed and you know, was trying to get that. That is great. So get tinkle a ring, get tinkle A ring was like our motto for a little bit. And then so you had Eric Law Drew Schneider and Matt Bockett as our three captains who were the best leaders of men that I've ever been around in, in the sport of lacrosse. Wow. That's cool. They get the trophy first and they turn around and instantly go call me up. They go, Tinel, and they, they give it to me and I raise it above my head and I almost dropped that shit right on my head. My wrist, my wrist was so, oh yeah. And I, I, how it was, I almost literally dropped my head. It was just one of the best. One of the best days of my life to come from what I went through. Right. Work all the way back and have this just fucking roller coaster of a ride. Right. Physically and finally get there. Like I, I watched the game you know, play back on, on, on YouTube or whatever and I, I, I just go to the end'cause I wanted to see,'cause I was on the field, I wanted to see what happened and so I don't really remember it. And I just collapsed. And then Matt Kavanaugh like picks me up and hugs me.'cause he knew how much. But it, it, it was, that's the only thing I was living for. I was running a business, I was doing all this stuff, but the only thing I needed was the ring and the trophy. Right. I put every ounce of energy into that, that I could. That's amazing. That's what a great story. That is awesome. Yeah. Amazing stuff, Nick. And let's let's flash forward a little bit to, you know, what seems like another, putting everything into the next, the next thing you're doing. Yeah. I mean, another incredible professional accomplishment. And I know you'd said, you know, you'd owned some gyms so I guess you had met that. That other goal that you had told that you know, that person you interviewed with, you, you, you proved that out to be true, but then it seems like this lacrosse barn facility that you've opened up in Dallas is just an amazing facility and an amazing. Kind of concept that you've developed there with, you know, as Jay said earlier, like 3.3 acres, two buildings, 80,000 square feet of space. And I, and I've actually never heard Jay of a, of a place that's just lacrosse, that's, that's that big and in the hotbed of Dallas, Texas, you know, the lacrosse hotbed a, a lacrosse only facility. So so tell us about, you know, the journey to open that facility. And Dallas lacrosse is getting big. I mean, it may not be Long Island or Maryland, but it's, it is getting bigger and bigger. Oh, no, I, I, I get it, but it's, it's, it's kind of cool, right? That Yeah, totally stone's about the growth of the game because you, you wouldn't expect that something like that would be in Dallas. So, but, but Nick tell us the journey of of getting to that incredible facility. So, I. I told that woman on that interview in five years, five to 10 years, I'd owned a gym. I owned a gym in two years after that, right? So I owned, just to be clear, just to be clear, two years. Two years, it took me, and that was a blessing. So the, the Hickman family, I owe them, I owe them so much. They took me under their wing. They, they helped me find faith again. So I owe them a lot. They owned the gym. They were, they, they were a football background. Kevin was a football player in the NFL. They took a risk on me to be a lacrosse guy. They paid me a little bit more money than the first gym. I was making$30 an hour instead of$10 an hour. I was starting to climb up the ladder a little bit and, and, and kind of climb up outta that hole that I dug myself. So again, I was loving what I was doing, but I was starting to gain some traction and reputation for, for lacrosse. So we had an 8,000 square foot gym one day, and I'm telling'em like, Hey, I need a raise. Like I brought in a lot of people, all this stuff. So one, she goes, all right, let's set up a meeting tomorrow. Kevin was on speakerphone. He was at modern day high school coaching football, and he was the athletic director there. And so he, he's on speakerphone. I'm sitting there and they're like, out nowhere. They just go, we're gonna give you the gym. And I was like, I was, I was preparing to negotiate$5 on my, on my hourly wage, and then all of a sudden I'm a gym owner, right? So again, my life comes full circle everywhere we go. So they took me under way and I call'em like, they're my second family. I still talk to'em. They saw the barn. They're, they're like, they, it's crazy. What, what, what They're, they're like, I can't believe you've done this. They're so proud of me. And, you know, it, it all starts with them. So I have to give them a lot of kudos. But yeah. That's awesome. They, so 8,000 square foot gym, I didn't look at the numbers. The, the gym was doing, it was healthy. It wasn't losing money, but it wasn't making any money. So I took it over and that was my. I didn't look at numbers, I didn't look at anything. I just, I'm, I'm a gym owner, I'll figure it out. Right. And that was a tough process of becoming an entrepreneur and becoming an owner. And I had to learn a lot. And I learn, I learn things the hard way. It's just my story. I, I learn'em trial and error, whether it's good or bad. I learn and I just keep, you know, stacking days, getting 1% better, whatever you wanna call it. I just, I show up and I, I, I credit myself for my work ethic. That's, I just show up. And I, you know, at that gym, I was there 14 hours a day for the first five years. Wow. So I think we made 147,000 a year, like that first year that like 10 years, like a couple years down the road, we're close to 750,000. But that gym was all sports. Wow. We did football, we did lacrosse, we did soccer, we did everything. We did a lot of strength, condition, speed. So that time in the lacrosse world in California, a lacrosse only gym would've never worked. Right. And then. So I, I sit down our, our lease is over. I have to come up with some money to renegotiate the lease and also a down payment and all this stuff. And, you know, we figure it out. But I sit down with the landlord for that building and she goes, we're gonna take the, because we were, we were crushing it at that point. So I was like, I want to do a 10 year deal. She goes, before you go any further, she goes, we're gonna take the, the building back for our own use. And I was like, oh my gosh. Alright, well I don't have a gym anymore and this is still, this is while I'm playing. So I have the emotional rollercoaster of owning my business and losing my building. And there's no vacant buildings that I found or could find. And I'm sitting there at one day, you know, in my brain going one thing, coaching on autopilot in some, some way, coaching the kids. And we had a big garage door and the parents used to sit out there and watch their kids while I was training. And I'm sitting there and I'm like, looking at the gym and how successful it's, it's like it's bursting from the seams. The, the, the whole gym is packed. And this guy comes up to me and, it's got Brett Berry, who I owe another, you know, so much too. He comes up to me, he goes, you ever think about going bigger? And I was like, funny you mentioned that. And he goes, he found, had a, he found a building. It was an old gold gym. It used to be a a grocery store. And I went and go and seen it and it's 21,000 square feet. And I'm like, man, am I ready to go this big? And at that point it was really big for me. So I took the leap of faith. I did it. He helped me all the way through it. And he helped me with every, you know, I, I met some real like angels in my And who, who was this guy? Some random guy on the street. Just came up to you? Oh, Brett. Brett Barry. I coached his, I coached his sons actually. Okay. And he, you know, he just helped me through that real estate deal to get that vacant building in up by, by Rancho Center, margarita High School. And gotcha. So you had a little relationship with him. Kind of thing. Yeah. I built relationship because I took care of his kids and everything, and then he helped me and, you know, you know, Brett actually passed he, he passed the cancer, but you know, oh boy, he's another angel that someone sent me. Right. Wow. Along the journey. I get emotional about him too, because he was such a, you know, such, such an important role of any of this. Right. Good. I should, I should rewind a little bit. When I was at this 8,000 square foot gym that Kevin and Maria gave me mm-hmm. I worked there for a year as a, as a coach. And I never realized the exit I got off and the, the week, maybe two weeks after I, I took ownership, I get off the exit and I realize that the exit is number 88, which is my best friend that got shot and killed was his football number. Oh man. 88 has followed me everywhere. And I'll, I'll go into that more, but. Just, I was getting on, I, he was leading me back on the right path the whole time. So he was with, I believe he's with me. I know that sounds foofy, but people that have experienced that will know what I'm talking about. Yeah. I see 80 eights everywhere and I, that's the only way I know that I'm doing the right thing and on the right path. That was cool. So I moved the 21,000 square foot gym. I negotiate a hell of a deal in Calif, Southern California. A 21,000 square foot gym is expensive. Especially. Yeah. I negotiated a deal for$20,000 a month because they were gonna knock it down in five years and redevelop it and make retirement homes or something. But the, the city of Coto and Doug were fighting it. So I come in, in five years and say, Hey, look, it, it gives me five more years to run a gym. Right? That's the way I looked at it. So I'll take five years and I'll figure it out when I get there. They did such a good job of fighting it. The construction company went away. So after four and a half years, I renegotiate, I'm, I'm opening up renegotiation deals, and they go, okay, you know, you know it's yours if you want it, but we'll send you the lease agreement. And it went from$20,000 to$47,000 a month in a contract. And I go, well, that's not gonna work. And they're like, well, sell us, send us a counter offer. I go$20,000. And they're like, that's not gonna work. So I was like, oh, then I'm gonna, then I I, and this is, this is right at the end of winning the championship and the business. Oh man. Pretty well. And this is another crossroad of mine where I'm like, what am I gonna do next? I wanted to start a family, you know, I got married. And we're just figuring out that Southern California as a coach and my, my wife does, you know does hair. So we don't, you know, to live in Southern California. It's beautiful, but it. We're living paycheck to paycheck, mostly because it's so expensive. Right. So we started thinking about future plans. So I finally went back to alumni weekend at Carolina this was two years ago. And I was looking at building space about 5,000 square feet warehouse to own my own little thing and have a strength coach, a speed coach, and myself, and just do it on a smaller scale. Mm-hmm. Get back, towin myself a little bit more instead of, you know, at one point I had 32 employees and I just was over it. I was, like I said, from playing and doing that up the business. I was, I was tired. I was, I was tired. So I wanted downsize and do my own thing and have some more freedom and travel and start my own family and stuff like that. So I was looking in North Carolina. First time I went back to North Carolina in 14 years since my, you know, I got that news. I just, I associated that bad time with UNC. So I never I distanced myself from it and never went back. I went to alumni weekend to look at Billings,'cause I was gonna look at North Carolina or South Carolina to move. I was so pissed at myself for not going back.'cause that place so amazing. Right. It is a beautiful place. And, and I also, I, I regret'cause I had to go back and thank Coach Joe Brushy. Yeah. Brushy came in the year after I graduated. So he was, he was the coach when I was there for next semester. That was his first year. Oh, okay. Yeah. I never played for him, but he came in after my senior year. Yeah. So when I got that news, I was lost. And this is going back and I'm kind of getting off tail, but I, I should say this because Coach Brey helped me in a really tough situation. I was, I don't know what I was gonna do, but I wasn't gonna do anything good. Whether that was pick a fight just to get in a fight. Like I didn't, I was off the, I was off the rail'cause I just didn't know what, how to deal with that shock. Mm-hmm. He sat me down. I can't tell you if we talked for 10 minutes or two hours. I was. Kind of just all over the place, but he somehow, you know, he's been through some things in his life too, and he was able to yeah, communicate with me at that level and really understand what I was going through at that moment and Right. Kinda, you know, he, he walked, he, he held me back from the ledge. He got me off the ledge a little bit, right. So I had to go back and thank him. So I went to alumni weekend and I pulled him aside, got emotional, thanked him. I don't even know if he remembers, but you know, he was another person that I needed at that time. So, anyway, long story short with that, but so I was looking at small, so Nick, Joe and I were were roommates when he was coaching at Brown many years ago. Absolute standup guy. Amazing, amazing, great guy. Yeah. He is a, he is a great human being and a great coach. So, yeah, so I was in looking for smaller buildings and I get a call from my now investor in Dallas. He goes, I got this place. And I didn't know who he was. You know, I researched and he played the cross played at a high level, played at the pro level. Has done well for himself, but he calls me and goes, I got a place you gotta look at. I'm like, I'm sorry, who is this? I'm sorry, who is this?

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Yeah. Who is this? Right? Is it your guardian angel or a mystery man reaching out of nowhere? Is this any way to create the first ever lacrosse barn? The premier lacrosse facility in all the world? I don't know, but if you're like me, you sure are curious. Tune in next week to find out.

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Until we meet again. Here's to hoping you find the twine. We're signing off here at the get the lax scoop. Thanks again so much. We will see you the next time.