It was a cool Saturday afternoon at a rec field outside of Baltimore
Sixth-grader Ryan Shaw was warming up with the rest of his team in preparation for their youth lacrosse game just like almost every other Saturday in the Shaw family.
Ryan’s dad, Steve, who was the coach at the time, called his son over and told him to put on the goalie gear.
“I remember being a little in shock, but I was going to do whatever the team needed me to do, that’s how I was always raised and how I always try to approach things,” Shaw said.
While the outcome that day may not have been the greatest, it was preparation for a conversation that the younger Shaw would have several years later at the University of Delaware.
For the majority of his life, Ryan had found himself in the midfield, either at the faceoff spot or somewhere with a short stick in his hand.
After the fall of 2017, Ben DeLuca and his staff, who were in their first season with the Blue Hens men’s lacrosse team, sat Ryan down in their post-fall meetings and talked to him about transitioning to a long pole and focusing solely on the defensive side of the field.
“We really felt that the move would benefit all parties because we had a need for skilled players at the long pole spot and Ryan has the exact mentality you need to play a tough position,” DeLuca said.
“Honestly, I had no idea it was coming. I had always played with a short stick,” Shaw said. “But I knew it was the best thing for the team and that’s all I ever want to do.”
Three years later, Shaw has played in just about every game he’s been available for, battling some injuries along the way. He’s been a part of back-to-back CAA Tournament appearances and back-to-back top-20 national rankings.
The wins and stats have been celebrated, but most cherished for Shaw is what he carries with him everywhere he goes.
The coveted Hard Hat award.
Established during Coach DeLuca’s time as an assistant at Cornell in 1999, the hard hat award is a tangible symbol of the work ethic and mentality that the program embodies. The yearly winner is voted on by the coaching staff as the program’s hardest working and most team first player.
Shaw has now won the honor for two straight seasons.
“That award means absolutely everything to me. I have always taken pride in my work ethic and always want people to understand that it has nothing to do with me, it has everything to do with the team, that’s why I work so hard, I want to be the best I can be for the team,” Shaw said.
The award took on new meaning when George Boiardi, a player at Cornell under DeLuca, passed away during a game in 2004. Boiardi was a Hard Hat award winner at Cornell and someone that Shaw looks up to.
“I didn’t know a ton about the story until Coach DeLuca got here, but once I heard the story, and learned about George, it’s everything I’ve ever wanted to be in a player,” Shaw said. “I know I don’t talk a lot, but I want everyone, especially my teammates and coaches to know that I would do anything possible to help the team.”
“Coming in as a new staff, you always need student-athletes to help establish the culture, that’s the way programs find success. Ryan is one of those guys for us. He may not be the most talkative or the most skilled, but he will never, ever be out worked. Everything we’ve ever asked him to do, he’s always done.,” DeLuca said. “Perhaps the biggest compliment to him is that I’ve had other folks outside of our program, either athletic department staff or other coaches tell me about how often they see him doing extra work. That means something when other people are recognizing how hard the kid works.”
Perhaps that shouldn’t be shocking coming from a household where his mom, Susan, used to routinely share the phrase “hard work is always pays off.”
“We believe that children are born into a certain person and as a parent, it’s our job to help them get there,” the elder Shaw, Steve, said. “Ryan has always taken it upon himself to put in the work. I can remember him at the age of 10, getting up at 5:30 in the morning to do workouts in the basement and bang the ball against the wall before school. We’ve always talked as a family about the only thing we can control every day is our attitude and our effort. Ryan has always given all he has. As parents, we’re incredibly lucky that is who he is.”
The only thing that might rival Ryan’s love of the hard hat is the actual Delaware jersey. It’s a jersey he’s dreamed of wearing ever since he was a little kid.
“I’ve been coming to games ever since I was able to walk I think. I remember seeing them play out on the old turf at the field hockey field. I remember seeing Coach Fossner play, Alex Smith, Curtis Dickson. It’s something that’s been ingrained in me and I’m grateful to be able to put on that jersey. It means everything to me,” the younger Shaw said.
The tradition of Blue Hens lacrosse runs deep in the Shaw family with Steve, Ryan’s father, being a UD Athletics Hall of Famer and a three-time All-American in the mid-80s.
“Ryan’s always had the goal of playing Division I lacrosse and for me, my career was a long time ago and players today are so much better than I was back then,” Steve said. “Ryan is a harder worker and better player than I ever was. Just ask my teammates. But as his father, when I saw him take the field in that Delaware jersey, my heart almost burst. I have always been so proud of the man he is, but I will say, that moment, I was just so happy he achieved his goal.”
With the 2020 season being cut short due to the spread of coronavirus, Shaw plans on returning to Newark for a fifth-year next spring and doing the same thing he’s always done, doing whatever the team needs him to do.