Lincoln-Sudbury boys lacrosse hosts Turkey Shootout to raise money for Ando's family fund

Tommy Cassell, MetroWest Daily News

November 29, 2021, 05:00 AM ET

SUDBURY -- Brian Vona doesn’t mince words.

The longtime Lincoln-Sudbury boys lacrosse coach prefers to stay on point. Direct to the task.

So after cracking a joke about the left-handed shot of alum John Sexton, Vona got down to business when addressing a collection of current, former and future L-S lax players following the second annual ‘Turkey Shootout’ on Friday.

“We did this today for Yosh and he would’ve (had an) ear-to-ear smile all day today,” Vona said. “All day today. This would’ve made him so happy.”

“Yosh” is Yoshitaka Ando. He was the longtime athletic trainer at Lincoln-Sudbury who died in 2019 following a brief battle with esophageal cancer.

On Friday, the L-S lacrosse community rallied to raise over $1,000 for a GoFundMe page set up for the Ando family while also teaming up to play lacrosse.

“Ando was all about community and the ultimate example of that is he remembered everyone,” said Sexton, a 2014 L-S grad who played at Notre Dame and now plays for Redwoods LC of the Premier Lacrosse League. “So you’d have guys like (Tyler Jewell), who graduated in ’95, that love Ando the same way that we do and Ando would remember just as much about them as he would us.

“Whether it was 25 years ago or 10 years ago, he’d be telling stories about everyone who went through the program.”

On hand at the Fieldhouse in Sudbury were Ando’s three sons, Lucas, Kyle and Marcus, daughter, Olivia, and wife, Cheri.

The latter even handed out Ritz crackers to people, like her husband used to when he saw hungry Warriors around the campus at L-S.

“Those crackers were my lunch and dinner most days,” Vona said.

“Ritz crackers are always good, definitely better when Ando was giving them to us,” said Carter Titus, a 2021 graduate. “But I think he’s looking down on us and would think this is an awesome day.”

Read: Lincoln-Sudbury boys lacrosse plays in honor of longtime trainer Yoshitaka Ando

Six teams – comprised of nearly 100 total people – participated in the holiday tournament. The shootout featured a 4-on-4 format with players from the same-age level competing against each other but also teaming up on a larger squad with older and younger players.

“It’s an event for all of L-S lacrosse – alumni, high school and youth – to get them all together to play together and learn from each other,” said second-year L-S Youth Lacrosse President John Frissora. “We’re one big program.”

In the semifinals of the shootout, Frissora’s son, Tristan, scored the game-winning goal to propel Team 5 into the finals.

“It was crazy,” said Tristan, a sixth-grader.

“It’s really cool for the youth to see what they have to do to get better but feel like they’re part of the program,” Frissora said. “It’s not just a youth thing, it’s L-S lacrosse.”

In a back-and-forth championship game, Team 2 took down Team 5 to win the tournament.

No matter the final result, the shootout provided a way for the L-S lax community to come together as one and show support to Ando’s family.

“It’s so cool,” said Timmy Maier, an eighth-grader. “All these players, it’s just fun to play with all of them.”

Said L-S junior Ryan Winters: “It was a cool outing. A cool event for the L-S lacrosse community.”

“This team and community have given me so much,” said Matt Dooley, a 2021 L-S grad. “So it’s just awesome to get back out here with my fellow teammates, some of the alum, high schoolers and youth kids, and it’s just a great day to have some fun and play lacrosse.”

Following a couple of group pictures and Vona’s speech, a few L-S alums stuck around to catch up afterward.

“We graduated seven years ago and we’re still out here playing and hanging out with guys who are a couple years younger than us,” said Mike Yenke, who graduated from L-S in 2014 and played lax at Elon University. “You just realize how unique of a community it is and what Coach Vona and everyone has done to make it such a tight-knit thing.”

“Coming back here is just a blast,” said Matt Barker, who also graduated in 2014 before playing lacrosse at Trinity College. “It’s super easy to stay close to the program because Vona was like the best coach for all of us and he’s still coaching and he’s got everyone on the team so close together year after year after year.”

Donate: Help raise money for the Ando Family Fund

And part of that cohesion through the years was Ando. The beloved athletic trainer was the Warriors’ glue. So Ando was an obvious topic of conversation after the shootout.

“Ando was kind of that dictionary, that encyclopedia of L-S lacrosse knowledge, and he brought all of us together,” Sexton said. “Coach Vona has done a great job of continuing that tradition. But seeing Ando’s family out here and all his kids and his wife, being able to be with them and have them around the community means a lot to us.”

“I know Ando would’ve loved it,” said Greg Roder, who graduated from L-S in 2014 and played lacrosse at Amherst College.

“Like Coach Vona said, he would have been smiling ear-to-ear,” Lucas Ando said. “I don’t think there’s a better way to say it – Coach Vona said it perfect. Seeing all the alum, youth and the high schoolers playing together would have made (my dad) so happy.”

Lincoln-Sudbury boys lacrosse hosts Turkey Shootout to raise money for Ando's family fund

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