8A / SPORTS / WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2011 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
BY BLAKE SCHUSTER bschuster@kansan.com
Kris Cauble took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and flashed back to when her son's infatuation with lacrosse first began.
"The first game I went to was one of the worst days of my life," Cauble said. "I sat there and watched those children beat each other with those sticks, and hitting each other with their bodies, and I was dumbfounded."
Kris had reason to be nervous. Only two months prior, her husband, Dave, had taken their high school sophomore son, Tyler, out in the backyard of their Libertyville, Ill., home to play catch with sticks for the first time.
Tyler, who now plays for the KU Club lacrosse team, had previously only played organized basketball, baseball and soccer. No contact sports were allowed.
During an ultrasound before Tyler was born, doctors discovered that his body had only developed one kidney.
"It was a choice we made as parents to make sure that he wasn't put in situations that could harm the kidney," Dave Cauble said, sidelining any hopes Tyler had of playing football, hockey, or lacrosse.
Dave Cauble, a native of Minnesota, attended the United States Military Academy at West Point where he played collegiate hockey, along with intramural lacrosse. It was something he had a passion for, so when he saw his son in need of a sport that suited him, he decided to break out the sticks.
"Freshman year, (Tyler) played baseball, and it went well. But I could look and see that he wasn't totally enthralled with the sport," Dave said. "He was participating because it was a sport we were
allowing him to play."
Dave and Tyler began playing catch in their backyard during the winter before Libertyville High School tryouts. The sessions went well, with one exception.
"When we first started playing, we kept losing the ball in the snow," Dave said.
This prompted him to go to the local sports complex and ask for a favor. Dave was able to convince the manager of the complex to let him and Tyler practice playing catch in the building's batting cages.
Two months before the tryouts began, Dave stumbled upon information that changed his perspective on his son playing a contact sport. Dave's research found that kidney injuries happen to less than 0.5 percent per every million participants in lacrosse. The odds of Tyler being hit in the kidney with a fastball were smaller than a kidney injury in another contact
sport. It was with this information that Dave thought Tyler should try playing organized lacrosse. The next step was to convince Kris of the same.
"The first conversation was icy," Dave said.
"I was totally against it," Kris said.
"It was a process." Dave said.
It was a process. Dave said.
If his kidney were to ever be injured, Tyler would most likely need a transplant along with dialysis to filter and clean his blood. Even with the stakes high, Tyler still wanted the opportunity to play.
"It was a decision that I made," Tyler said, "We knew the risk, and we were willing to take it, especially me."
With Tyler completely committed, Dave and Kris went back to researching the sport, while Tyler and Dave kept practicing every day.
Kris called doctors and askea for opinions, while Dave Googled the topic, looking for any available information. In the end, it was Dave who found the game-changing element.
Tyler could wear an altered pad to protect him from a blow to the kidney. Average lacrosse pads go down to mid-chest; the altered pad Dave found goes down to just above Tyler's waist, adding more protection to his back.
"It looks like a bulletproof vest," Tyler said.
Two weeks before Libertyville High School tryouts, the decision was made that Tyler would be allowed to play lacrosse as long as he wore "The Vest," but there were still some who believed it was a bad idea, regardless of the extra padding.
"My doctor was pissed," Tyler said. "I went in for my yearly checkup, and he asked what sport I was playing, and I said lacrosse. He was so mad because it was a contact sport with hitting involved."
Tyler said.
Dave's military training had come in handy, and he wasn't afraid to use it.
"The freshman boys were a bunch of bozos, so you just have to keep them in line." Dave said.
Every day during summer between sophomore and junior year, Tyler practiced with his dad in the backyard.They did the same between junior and senior year, and by his high school graduation he had played two seasons for the varsity squad and was named a captain his senior year.
Two months to learn a sport, and be able to master the aspects of it, is very little time. But Dave and Tyler were driven to make sure that he made the team, and Tyler began to naturally catch on to the game.
"I picked it up pretty quick. There were a few rough patches. I spent a lot of time in the backyard with my dad, a lot of him coaching me and critiquing me." Tyler said.
When the time came to pick a college, one of Tyler's requirements was that it had a club lacrosse team. Some smaller schools played into his consideration because Tyler would be able to play at a high level and see ample playing time. All of the other schools became irrelevant after a visit to the University.
During tryouts, Tyler mentioned to a coach that his father had played collegiate lacrosse. In need of an assistant coach to help out, Libertyville reached out to Dave and asked him to join the staff.
At Tyler's first game, Kris sat in the bleachers rooting for her son, and her husband.
"I loved having him as a coach, but he was always the one making everybody run, and do pushups,"
"When I saw that KU had a club lacrosse team, I decided that was something I wanted to be a part of." Tyler said.
In his first season with the Jayhawks, Tyler has been a great value to coach Dennis Shuil's squad, notching seven goals with one assist and has no negrets about his decision to play.
"I love the intensity, and the hitting, and the environment," Tyler said. "The guys, everybody is goofy, and laid back. It's a different community."
Kris and Dave are also enjoying the lacrosse ride. They were able to see their son play collegiately this season in the Jayhawks' 15-10 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City.
Dave has also kept lacrosse in his life. Along with his coaching position at Libertyville High School, he now coaches a neighbor. They practice in the backyard of the Caubles' Illinois home.
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-Edited by Becca Harsch
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