There are few events that occur in one's life where we are able to say, "I'll never forget where I was when I heard the news". Much the same way, our parents may reflect on the news of President Kennedy's death, or how all of us can recall our location when we learned of the tragedy on Sept, 11 2001. I can say I will never forget where I was when I learned of the passing of the one of the most, if not the most influential and inspiring man in my life (short of my father). I was sitting on an airplane in Chicago awaiting departure, early Saturday morning, I had just called my wife to tell her we were were delayed when my phone rang, It was Ron Kelam, long time friend, teammate and Captain of so many who played between the years of 1993 and 1996, informing me that one of the greatest men I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, had died... I can't think of a more appropriate person to hear the news from.
I do not have the words to describe the emotions that I have gone through since I heard the news. Let me just say, my thoughts and my prayers go out to all of his current and past players and friends. I would also like to commend Chris Goudy for the strength and leadership that he has had to show to the current De Smet Lacrosse players and families, I can't imagine how hard that must be to go through.
I'm sure anyone who knew coach, recognized that Mike Sennett was not your average coach, friend or leader. His dedication, devotion, intensity, ideals and love for the game of Lacrosse and those he coached was nothing short of awe inspiring . He was truly a man among men, and still to this day must be one of the toughest men I have ever met. I recall practicing at Parkway East, in the middle of a hale and sleet storm, it was so cold, the sleet was coming down damn near sideways, feeling in my hands and feet had left long ago even with gloves on under my lax gloves, and in the middle of the field is coach, in lax shorts, a short sleeved T-shirt, bare handed, hanging on to his stick, barking out orders, probably happier than a pig in sh*t knowing that he was the toughest SOB on that field, as the rest of us just prayed for an end to the misery.
I think the reason he was such an influence on me was because of his ideals and unwavering discipline. I'll never forget coach telling us he didn't have a girlfriend in college because of his dedication to the Notre Dame Lacrosse team (wow). For many of us, it was hard enough not to "go on a date" the night before a game. I can honestly say that without the inspiration and leadership from Mike Sennett I would have never had the discipline to excel towards my own personal goals. Mike was the kind of coach that even when you made, what you thought was the best play you have ever made, he would quickly tell you what you could have done to exceed even your own expectations of yourself. I'll never forget, my senior year, playing Ladue at Ladue, we were winning by a lot, which back then was nothing new. I had just drawn a penalty for playing with my free hand, a nice way of saying I punched the kid in the chest during a ground ball scrum (for those of you who know me or played with me understand it would be an understatement to say I played with some intensity). Anyway, possession changes, kid picks up the ball, attempts to spilt dodge me, when I hit him hard enough to send his feet somewhere about the height of my helmet (best hit of my life, right in front of our bench-I'm stoked), pick up the ball, fast break, long pass to Mike Ellis, goal. First thing coach says is "good job, but if you had waited longer to pass and followed the play, you could have gotten it back and scored that goal yourself"... he was right, I thought I had done everything I could on that play, I was wrong. He saw way more potential in all of us than we ever saw in ourselves. I'm sure anyone who ever played for coach could share similar stories from the field. He always pushed us to be more than we ever thought we could be and he helped us to realize it by bringing home state championships.
I'll never forget, right after we won state for the first time, giving coach a big hug, all he said was "don't ever stop giving back, don't ever stop..." I only hope that someday, when my time ends, I'll have done just that, and that I had made him proud.
Thanks Lambs, for putting this together...

Count On Me,
Eric M. Foss, '96 #27