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South Jordan Journal

South Jordan Lacrosse Star Continues Successful Tendencies

Aug 23, 2016 03:44PM ● By Billy Swartzfager

Chris Severson last season as a freshman at BYU —Mykel Severson

By Billy Swartzfager | [email protected]
 
Playing sports was something Chris Severson has always been good at – he just didn’t find the enjoyment he expected from traditional games like soccer or baseball.  He didn’t really fall in love with a sport until he began to play lacrosse. 
 
His mother, Mykel Severson, said lacrosse is perfect for kids who may be having a difficult time finding their niche in the sports world.
 
“He tried soccer and baseball, but they didn’t keep his interest,” Mykel said. “He was starting to become very introverted; he was playing a lot of video games.”
 
Struggling to find an active outlet for her son, Mykel took the advice of another parent who suggested she get Chris into lacrosse. 
 
After a bit of research, Mykel found a recreational league in South Jordan called Bingham Boys Lacrosse, which at the time was so small it had to combine with a program at Juan Diego to have enough kids to form teams. After one practice, Chris was hooked.
 
“He came home after his first practice and told me he loved the game,” Mykel said. 
 
According to his mother, Chris fell in love with lacrosse after just one day, but Chris says that his love continues to expand as more and more aspects of the game open up for him. 
 
“I went from being a goal scorer to a guy that makes plays for teammates,” he said.
 
When Chris first began playing the sport, he was known for his scoring abilities. He focused on scoring most of the time. In fact, scoring goals was how he was motivated very early on.His parents paid him a few dollars every time he scored a goal, but they had to reconsider their idea after it began costing them too much money. 
 
Chris took that scoring ability to the very top of prep lacrosse in the state of Utah. He is the current record holder for the most points scored in a season. As a senior at Bingham high school, Severson was awarded All-State honors, State MVP and US Lacrosse All-American. 
 
Now, after just having wrapped his freshman year at BYU, Chris has continued to add to his shelf of hardware, as well as his bag of tools. He led BYU in scoring as a freshman, was awarded the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference’s Rookie of the Year and took away an award from Under Armor called the Commanding Performer of the week. Chris won that award for making the biggest impact of the game, when he scored two goals in a game, but also, and just as importantly, had an assist on five more.
 
Chris’ mother spoke of a coach who taught assists as being just as important as goals. Chris told of how his game has changed over the years as well. He mentions that he developed as a good shooter, but while doing so learned that there are other facets of the game.
 
“Being able to do all things well, like scoring and creating plays, makes me better as a player, better a as a teammate and better as a person too,” Chris said.
 
Lacrosse has shown Chris how one can set and accomplish goals. According to Chris and his mother, he spent hours playing wall ball, a practice tool that allowed him to hone skills after practice, whenever he had a spare moment to himself. That determination most set Chris apart from his peers.
 
Chris hopes that his love of the sport, hard work and his penchant for setting and reaching goals may one day take him to  professional lacrosse. He is currently studying to become a physical therapist and would love to play professional lacrosse in the summer and practice physical therapy during the off-season.
 
“Doing both would be a dream come true,” he said.
 
He also hopes his success may lead others to chase their dreams. 
 
“If a kid wants the most out of athletics and life, try lacrosse; it will teach you everything you need to know,” he said.