By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher Members of the Cedar Creek boys lacrosse team spend time in the off season lifting weights, trying to get their bodies ready to handle the grind of the spring season. Two hundred pounds on the bench-press bar can be a heavy thing to lift. But, sometimes, the heaviest thing to lift is a heart. The Pirates are playing with heavy hearts this spring, as a couple members of the team are dealing with the loss of women who were very important in their lives. Senior attacker Zach Kondrach lost his beloved grandmother, Anna Rodio, on Nov. 3 of last year, and freshman Kacy Mcvaugh-Ropecki lost his mom, Peggy, three years ago. The 15-year-old freshman, who also lost his father when he was 10 years old, said it has been difficult, but playing lacrosse and having guys such as Kondrach on the team has been a big help. “It gets my mind off a lot. I don’t really think about anything (when I’m on the field) except for the game. But I dedicate the sport to her. She was always there for me when I needed her, no matter what,” Mcvaugh-Ropecki said. “Zach says playing lacrosse helps get his mind off of things, and I feel the same way. Everyone is there for you through the ups and downs.” “It’s definitely tough, but I think the biggest thing right now is honoring them. It’s not all about us. It’s about honoring them as much as possible,” Kondrach said. 
Freshman Robbie Nawrocki is one of many Cedar Creek players who have written in athletic tape on their helmets who they are dedicating their seasons to. (Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan) Pirates coach George Cappuccio said a couple guys started putting athletic tape on their helmets and scrawling names of people they wanted to dedicate their seasons to in magic marker, and other players have followed suit. “They are nice kids and the rest of the team really supports them,” Cappuccio said. “A couple of our guys started this thing where they put the tape on their helmet with the name on it of who they were dedicating their season to, and everybody kind of picked up on that and put on their helmets who they wanted to play for.” Cappuccio said that Kacy, for the most part, likes to keep things private, and that his teammates respect that. He said the guys on the team understand what Kacy is going through and although they might not talk much about it, just being there for him is important. The bond the guys have created goes a long way for a young man such as Kacy, coach Cappuccio said. “He doesn’t talk about it much. He’s very quiet about that. I had him for wrestling as well, and I think he keeps a lot of that to himself. I imagine it’s pretty tough, so I don’t really want to remind him of it unless he brings something up to me. With a grandparent, it’s a little bit different. When it’s somebody’s mom it’s much more difficult. But the guys are all real good with him. The lacrosse team is like a family in itself and it’s great to see them gel like that. The younger guys and the older guys hang out together. They have a ton of support,” Cappuccio said. “Kacy has a lot of friends on the team, and the guys all hang out on the weekends. The guys are always together, even in the hallways at school they are hanging out together, they sit together at lunch, and it’s good to see that. I’m sure that helps get their mind off things.” “We’re a bunch of brothers. I hadn’t known him since this lacrosse season, but he’s a great kid. He comes in and works hard, and I think (having lost his mom) only motivates him more. We don’t really think about it (all the time) but it’s just something that no matter what you are doing, whether it be lacrosse or something else, you want to make them proud,” Kondrach said. “It’s awesome, especially being with all these guys we consider to be brothers. It definitely makes things a lot easier to have someone around you as opposed to having to go through it alone. And mixing that (brotherhood) in with lacrosse, it really lets you get away from everything that’s hurting you.” Cedar Creek is a relatively new lacrosse program in the Cape-Atlantic League, and the Pirates are trying to build into a contender. It hasn’t been easy in a league that features teams such as Ocean City, Oakcrest, Mainland and Absegami — all teams whose programs are well established — but coach Cappuccio said the beginning years of this program are a lesson in perseverance. These boys are laying the foundation for what someday could be one of the top teams in the league. 
Current senior Zach Kondrack, shown here graduating eighth grade, is dedicating this season to his beloved grandmother, Anna Rodio, who passed away last November. (Photo courtesy of Kondrach family) “That’s one of the big things with high school sports is to teach life lessons as well. It’s not just about the sport, and we always talk about perseverance,” Cappuccio said. “We’ve been having kind of a tough season in general, as a team, and we just try to teach them to keep their heads up and push through things. When things aren’t going your way, you have to keep pushing through and eventually things will go your way if you keep doing the right thing all the time. We’re out there practicing all the time. We just have to keep pushing through, and if you keep giving your best, eventually good things will happen.” And having the support of teammates, parents, coaches and administration means a lot to young men who are dealing with difficult life circumstances, Cappuccio said. “Having a good support system, in anything in life, anything you have to deal with, it makes it that much easier when you have other people to kind of go through it with,” he said. “People to hang out with, talk with, and keep your mind off it.” Kondrach said his grandmother was one of the most important people in his life. And even now that she is gone, one thing he said he will remember about her is that Anna told it like was — even if it hurt your feelings or was far from politically correct. These days, Kondrach has to chuckle a little bit when he thinks about how his grandmother would say whatever was on her mind, no matter what people thought about it. “Growing up, she would try to come to all my baseball games. She was always there for me. She was one of the most influential women in my life. I’ve had some influential women in my life, and she was definitely one of the most influential,” Kondrach said. “There’s so much (to remember) about her. Coming down to the end, she had no filter. Whatever was on her mind, she wasn’t afraid to say it. She didn’t care at all.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]
Boys lacrosse: Some special women are inspiring Cedar Creek this season
