To My Believers, This Is For You
Matt DeLuca
5/13/2020
DeLuca Selected in Second Round of PLL Draft
As we go through our life’s journey, it’s easy to look back on all the haters. All the people who never thought you could make it. All the people that doubted you.
For me, this moment is about the believers. It’s about those who stood behind me every step of the way and allowed me to achieve this moment. It’s still hard to believe, but the tall kid from Long Island can officially say, “I’m a professional lacrosse player.”
To get to that statement, it took a lot of hard work and it took many people who believed in me and gave me confidence when I needed it the most.
My family, my parents, they were the original believers in me. They sacrificed their weekends, paid the extra money so I can experience camps and clinics from some of the best in the world. They were the reason I was in a position to play Division I lacrosse.
You see, my entire life, it’s always been about the ones who put their belief in me first. That’s how I ended up at Delaware. It’s the reason I take so much pride in the fact that my name is tied directly to this University and the lacrosse program.
Sure, I knew the tradition of the greats that came before me and sure, I knew that the campus and University community was unbelievable, but it came down to the fact that this program was the first to believe in me. They were the first ones to offer me an opportunity to play at the Division I level and there were other schools that came in late in my recruiting process, but to me, it says something when you believe in me from the beginning, not just after I’ve had a big game.
That belief never wavered during my four years. Coach DeLuca, Coach Fossner, they continued that belief in me. They showed by their actions and constant confidence in me, not only as a goalie, but a student-athlete and a leader.
This year did not go as planned. We wanted to return this program to the NCAA Tournament, we wanted to hoist that CAA trophy, but as I look back, I’ll never forget the moments that challenged us and made each and every one of us better.
We went from not winning a single conference game my freshman year to reaching the CAA Tournament in back-to-back years and being in the mix for a CAA title.
You know why? Because we believed in each other. We pushed each other. We competed. We became better people because of these past four years.
And now, it’s all led to this. The opportunity to play at the highest level. All because of a simple word: belief.
(Written from the perspective of Matt DeLuca)
