Joy Of Being A Rook

There is no better feeling than making your home town junior lacrosse team. Of course the excitement of receiving all your apparel and picking your is awesome, but it is different in Elora. As a rook (rookie) you take part in a draft that the vets (veterans) run and they choose who they want to be their rook. It is almost like getting drafted into the NLL. They all draw for position of draft picks and then they all rate the rooks on the team. I was fortunately picked 3rd overall in the 2012 rookie draft. That is when all the excitement from making the team turns into a awkward experience.

Just before the first practice, the vets take their rooks and give them a new "haircut", also known as the rookie cut. The vet sits you down on a chair in the middle of the hall in the Elora arena and go to town on you hair. Since you get your haircut in the order that you got drafted, it was pretty funny watching the other rooks get their haircut into weird patterns. All your laughter ends when you get thrown into the chair. You can hear your vet behind you laughing away as he hacks away at your head, and give you some wild style. In the end it isn't that bad, until you realize that you have to go to school with that haircut. As you can see, in the top left corner, my hair is a complete mess. Now, for most kids they can walk around without getting stared at and laughed at, but when you have hair like me and other rooks, it is tough. Most people would say wear a hat, but their is a rule against wearing a hat. The rule is that you can not wear a hat for a whole week that you have the new haircut. If you are caught wearing a hat or shave your head in that week they will shave your eye brows off.

After awhile, you realize that you are stuck with the hair so you have to make the best of it. Instead of walking in scared and embarrassed, you have to walk in knowing that you will be stared at and made fun of. Of course the first day is a little awkward because everyone stares at you but, then you can start having fun with it. For me, I knew it looked bad so I put the hair that was left over in a pony tail. It basically comes down to if you think it is embarrassing and let everyone get under your skin, it will be a miserable week. If you take it like a man and just make it hilarious, then it will be a pretty good week. The whole point of the rook cut is for all of Elora to see your hair at the home opener. During "Oh Canada" the rooks stand to feet in front of the vets and let all the fans embrace their hair.

Even though being a rook sounds like it could be miserable, it is actually really enjoyable. You are part of a team, almost like a second family. There is nothing better than to show up at the Elora arena in front of a sold out crowd with all your bros (brothers). Junior is an awesome time in your life and you should never give it up just because of a hair cut.