By Syd Britt

Seevers’ commitment social media post.

John Seevers (‘25) is a standout lacrosse athlete for the Collegiate varsity men’s lacrosse team. Entering his second season as a varsity team member, Seevers has already committed to play goalie on the lacrosse team at Denver University after graduating.

Goalie is one of the more challenging positions to play in all of sports. Goalies are expected to provide direction and leadership on and off the field. Most of the time during games, goalies can see all the players on the field or ice at one time, meaning they need to communicate with the rest of their team for the best chance at making a defensive stop. Along with the communicative challenge of playing goalie, there is the obvious challenge that you are expected to stop a ball or puck at speeds of 80 mph or more. Even though goalie is a high-stress and high-pressure position, Seevers welcomes the challenge. He stated, “I love playing the position and always have. The leadership aspect of it is something that has been second nature to me. My personality fits well with the position, I guess.”

Seevers making an incredible cross-handed save in a player showcase game.

Seevers has been playing lacrosse ever since he was six years old. At this young age, he played catch with his older brother Jay Seevers (‘22), who currently plays long-stick midfield for the Division III lacrosse program at Washington and Lee University. Both Seevers began their playing career with Geronimo Lacrosse, a league closely connected to Collegiate. Seevers remembers this league as providing him with “some of the most enjoyable moments in my early lacrosse career.” Seevers recalled the time when his “team won the championship with myself in the goal,” and said that it was “one of the most pure and raw events in my lacrosse career, as I was so young and did not know how big lacrosse would be later in my life.” Despite Geronimo being profoundly important to Seevers, this league is not a travel league, but rather a recreational one dedicated to introducing young athletes to the sport. 

Geronimo Lacrosse.

Jay Seevers (’22), John’s older brother.

Making the jump from recreational lacrosse to travel lacrosse was an enormous change. After several seasons playing for Geronimo, Seevers decided it was time to start playing for a travel lacrosse program. Seevers explained that it “was an overwhelming competitive leap going from Geronimo to travel … it was more intense, it took more of my time, and it was an overall commitment to the game.”

Seevers began his tenure of travel lacrosse at the age of 10, playing for a local team called Next Nevel, formerly known as the Greyhounds but now known as the Spartans. There, he played goalie for two summers, finding “little success as a team.” Seevers recalls “the teams from northern hotbeds such as Long Island, Maryland, and Pennsylvania repeatedly demolishing us,” but also remembers how “these beatings at such a young age fueled all of us to catch up to these teams and players that already had years of a headstart in the club lacrosse circuit.” Seevers explained that “places like Richmond would not be the miniature hotbeds that they are now without taking beatings from fourth graders who were born with a stick in their hand.” Despite his team’s struggles, Seevers stated that “this was my first experience in the competitive lacrosse scene,” which likely helped him shape ideas about where he wanted to play the coming summers. Seevers look back on these memories with laughter but also acknowledges that these games often ended in tears of frustration from the Greyhounds, which fueled future improvement. 

Next Nevel Greyhounds Lacrosse, Seevers’ first travel team.

Seevers played his first Collegiate lacrosse game when he took the field for the 7th Grade Cub team. Here, Seevers explained that “I became truly in love with the sport, as I got my first taste of what it was like to play for my own school and alongside my close friends and classmates.” Unfortunately, that spring 2020 season was then cut short due to COVID-19, an obstacle that affected athletes nationwide. With the pandemic at the forefront of everyone’s mind, Seevers found something that would greatly benefit his talents that spring and summer. Seevers joined multiple online groupchats with older lacrosse players from the Richmond area who would coordinate times to get together and play pickup lacrosse, or simply fire shots at Seevers in the goal. Seevers feels that he made many long-lasting connections and friendships via these burning-hot summer shootarounds, whether it be his current Senior varsity teammates, or with players in the class of 2020, who are now wrapping up fruitful college careers. Seevers explained that he saw an opportunity to grow and become stronger by going to these shoot-arounds; he said “the older players exposed me to a higher level of lacrosse, a level that I was not familiar with at the time.”

Seevers aggressively eyeing the ball in a game for the Richmond Hawks.

That summer, Next Level merged with another club and became the Richmond Hawks. The program continued to develop and gained talented players from around the state of Virginia, and after three grueling practices a week, as well as separation into an AA team and a B team, the Hawks began to win games. Seevers was voted captain and stated that “the two-year stretch of hard work to get to that point instilled the work ethic that I still carry to this day.” Seevers has always been a fierce competitor, a quality his friends and teammates appreciate. Longtime friend, classmate, and teammate Ben Heidt (’25) described him as “one of the most overly competitive dudes I know; he just wants to win… nothing else.” 

Collegiate’s varsity team is currently 5-1 and is expected to have a great season, as they currently have eight college commits and quite a few players with college-level talent. Seevers agrees that if the team can conquer the mental aspect of the sport, they have a great chance to make a run in the VISAA tournament. After being knocked out last year by State Champions Paul VI, the Cougars will look to take back the hardware this spring. 

All photos courtesy of John Seevers.