Los Alamos Youth Lacrosse Wins Championship With 8 Players

When the Los Alamos 12U lacrosse team showed up for their championship game on May 10, they were down two players and facing a full-strength Albuquerque squad. What happened next proved that heart can make up for missing numbers.

The young team, made up of 11 and 12-year-olds, won the Lacrosse Fiesta Tournament championship with a 10-7 victory. They did it fielding just eight players in a 7-vs-7 format, meaning substitutions were nearly impossible and every player had to give everything they had.

The road to the championship started the day before in 92-degree heat. Los Alamos battled through two games on Saturday, beating Albuquerque 9-6 in the morning and outlasting a combined Santa Fe/El Paso team 8-4 in the afternoon.

Those two wins earned them a bye straight to Sunday's championship game. But when game day arrived, the team was missing Ronan Parton's playmaking skills and Brian Cardon's shutdown defense.

The remaining eight players refused to let the setback define them. Goalkeeper Iszakiah Chacon kept Albuquerque at bay while David Hargather, Daniel Certik, and Quentin Adams locked down the defense.

On offense, Elijah Martinez, Steven Richardson, Matt Martinez, and Corbin Wakeford executed tactical plays that wore down their opponents. The teams were tied at halftime, but Los Alamos pulled away in the second half to claim the trophy.

Why This Inspires

This championship caps a season where 10 kids from Los Alamos traveled across the Southwest to compete against teams from Colorado and New Mexico. They finished 12-6-1, learning lessons about teamwork and perseverance that will last far beyond lacrosse season.

Head coach Dan Wakefield watched his young players discover what they were capable of when they refused to make excuses. Playing shorthanded in a championship game could have been a reason to lose, but these kids turned it into their proudest moment.

Sometimes the best victories come when you have to dig deepest.