Nat St. Laurent is a lacrosse success story. A native of Carthage, N.Y., and son to a black father and white mother, St. Laurent saw the sport as a way out of town and onto a successful career.

He experienced racism at an early age, but decided to keep playing the sport he loved. After playing lacrosse at Keuka (N.Y.), he spent time coaching at Washington & Lee and took on a new purpose with the U.S Army Reserves.

Now a coach at Ohio Northern and the PLL’s Redwoods LC, St. Laurent is living out his dream. He spoke with Paul Carcaterra on “Overtime” about his journey, and what this sport can do to be more inclusive.

Here are the top takeaways.

St. Laurent Quit Lacrosse Temporarily

St. Laurent was just coming into his own in lacrosse when the subject of race started to seep into his team’s dialogue. He was 10 or 11, but he had experience watching and learning from the Carthage varsity team.

One day, as the Carthage teams headed to the field to practice, a member of the varsity team came over to St. Laurent.

“‘Hey, your people don’t play this game,’” he told St. Laurent. “’You need to stick with basketball and football. This game is not for you.’”

Those words still stick with the Redwoods LC coach. He went home and put his stick away and skipped practice for weeks. His brothers helped support him during a time where he was angry with the sport, and eventually he decided to return to the field.

It’s a good thing he did.

His Thoughts on Racism in America

St. Laurent has been vocal in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and the ensuing protests that have grown across the nation. As a black man, he’s made it clear he wants to be a voice in pushing this sport forward.

He said he has called members of the lacrosse community, like Jovan Miller, and apologized for not speaking up sooner on issue of race. He’s been trying to teach his daughters, Jaylin and Janessa, and son, Jamarcus, about racism in America.

“I’m exhausted,” he said. “You can only answer why so many times.”

St. Laurent voiced his frustrations about fellow coaches speaking up in a video posted last week. That video was shared throughout the lacrosse community and was praised by many on social media.

“I was able to get a couple minutes to myself,” he said. “No music, just me and my thoughts. I started thinking about coaching and how long it took to get to this point and all the support I had along the way. … I wanted people to understand that we [as coaches] have to step up.”

St. Laurent’s Experience in the Military

St. Laurent has emerged as one of the strongest leaders in the game, and he’s had plenty of experience from which to draw. The Keuka graduate spent 13 years with the U.S. Army Reserves, joining after 9/11 and spending time as a training instructor and finishing his enlistment as a Staff Sergeant.

There, he got a crash course in what it means to be an adult and how to pay attention to the small details. He also started to develop the skills it took to lead a college or professional lacrosse program.

“It gave me discipline. It made me grow up and exposed me to people from all walks of life. You just meet people from all over the world. The thing you learn the most is what it takes to be part of something bigger than you.”