"A Chat with U" is a feature designed to learn more about the special student-athletes at Union College. These features are written by Bob Weiner, a veteran sports writer who is best known in his career for his collegiate coverage at the Daily Gazette in Schenectady, NY. Bob's latest story is on Union senior men's lacrosse goaltender Sam Broda.
BY BOB WEINER
Sam Broda has his own reasons for tapping on three sides of the goal with his stick every time he steps into the net for the Union College men's lacrosse team.
But each tap is also a symbol of the tremendous opportunities he's received while wearing the Garnet for the last four years. A shining example of the term student-athlete, the senior goalie from Dobbs Ferry has enjoyed academic success as a double major, the challenges of athletic competition under one of the top coaches in the sport and the valuable rewards of his study abroad in Argentina.
"My dad has a saying that at Union you better get your money's worth and it's a wonderful school. I certainly have," said Broda, a 6-foot product of Loomis Chaffee prep school in Windsor, Conn.
Broda explained that the three taps on the sides of the goal actually came from his uncle, Bill, who was also a lacrosse goalie. "I started looking up to him as a kid, and I always wanted to play the game from watching him," Broda said. "He used to tap the sides of the goal like that. It's sort of a locational thing. You get to feel where you are in the goal. That's how you figure out where you are in the cage while you are watching the action on the field."
Although Brodas lacrosse career hasn't turned out exactly the way he planned it, he wouldn't trade the experience. After serving as team captain and earning All-Western New England First-Team honors at Loomis Chaffee School, he was recruited to play for Union head coach Paul Wehrum.
Broda never saw action as a freshman, but he made his collegiate debut against DeSales by coming off the bench as a sophomore and then registered five saves in 17 minutes against Vassar. He earned Liberty League All-Academic honors that season and was a repeat selection last year as a junior, when he kept RIT, the nation's highest scoring team, scoreless for more than four minutes in the Liberty League championship game. He also held Bard scoreless for five minutes in a relief hole and made five appearances overall.
This season, as the Dutchmen have struggled, Brodas only appearance was for a little more than a minute in a 13-6 win at Skidmore.
"It's frustrating watching the guys lose and me not playing," Broda said. "But I get plenty of action in practice every day. The reason I've kept playing for so long is that I truly love the sport of lacrosse. We practice more than we play, so I enjoy that practice every day. Obviously, not playing is frustrating at times, but I love showing up to practice and helping out the other guys. The most important thing I've learned from Coach Wehrum is always to be accountable and to beat the other guy with hard work."
"Sam is one of the finest young men I've ever worked with in my 40 years of coaching," Wehrum said. "He puts the team first. Even though he doesn't play consistently, he is always there at practice and is an outstanding student."
Wehrum said it is typical of his backup goalies to get minimal playing time. "I tell the kids that being a [backup] goaltender is the hardest position for any athlete here because the starters don't usually get hurt. They don't pull a hamstring, hurt an ankle or separate a shoulder. They do have black and blue marks up and down their body, though. Some coaches have a revolving door with their goalies, but I never have. In my system, the goalie is always the main man, sort of like a president of a company. Goalies can't be worried about being pulled."
That being said, Wehrum appreciates Brodas dedication to the program and loyalty to his teammates.
"He may not start, but he hasn't missed any practices, except when he went to Argentina," Wehrum said. "He's an unbelievable kid who comes from a great family. I will miss him as much as any kid I've coached. He is very unselfish."
Brodas accomplishments at Union have gone far beyond the lacrosse field. He carries a 3.75 grade point average as a double major in Political Science and Spanish, along with a minor in Latin American Caribbean Studies. He's made the Dean's List every year.
An extremely busy activity log includes a stint as president of Kappa Sigma Alpha, the college's Political Science honor society, being co-philanthropy chair of the Sigma Chi fraternity, co-founding and serving as co-chairman of the Pencils of Promise program that raises money and awareness for international education development. He also served as a delegate to the National Model United Nations, where he represented the country of Azerbaijan in the largest Model United Nations educational simulation program in the world.
Broda also worked in the Virtual Student Foreign Service, taught in the Brooklyn Uncommon Schools program, was a staff lifeguard at the Keewaydin program in Salisbury, Vt., and was a volunteer English tutor for the PECLA Community Service in Cordoba, Argentina, where he spent three and a half months in his study abroad term.
"I've enjoyed so many moments during my stay at Union, but I would have to say that the highlights were my study abroad term in Argentina, and my 1,400-mile trip with the same professor, Victoria Martinez, who was my advisor. We enjoyed the trip to Argentina so much that Professor Martinez led another trip from L.A. to El Paso. I learned so much about human right on that trip. We talked to members of the border patrol and stopped in so many different states. We talked to so many people who had so many different attitudes about immigration and other things like that. I would say that trip was 100 percent the most influential of anything I've ever done."
Brodas vast accomplishments and experiences at Union have led to landing a prize job when he graduates this spring. He has accepted a position with the law firm of Weil, Gotshal and Manages, LLP.
"They work with mergers and acquisitions. It will be a lot of work, but also a great experience," Broda said.
"I think that so many things over a broad range of topics have prepared me for this, from the lacrosse fields to the classroom. Working hard is the key. I've had two wonderful academic advisors here who have become great friends of mine. I'm learning about myself. I've made some fantastic friends, and the things I've studied, like Spanish and Political Science, have broadened my horizons. There is no doubt that my stay at Union has prepared me for life."
