When Liam Bourke began his lacrosse career as a third grader, the sport itself was still in the embryonic stages of its development on the West Coast.It was three more years before Roy Lang and Rob Emery, standouts from Saint Ignatius, graduated and went on to play for prestigious lacrosse programs Cornell and Virginia respectively. In doing so, they helped advance the sport’s burgeoning Marin following from the cultish to the pertinent. During his own high school career, Bourke has continued their work admirably by helping create another Bay Area powerhouse.
Three years ago when the Giants played Saint Ignatius, then-ranked 12th in the nation by Maxpreps.com, in the first game of the season, a handful of parents and friends gathered in the stands of the Redwood football field to watch a 10-3 beatdown. This April, more than 500 students huddled around the newly constructed Ghilotti Field and witnessed a battle between the same two Bay Area powerhouses, one a perennial champion and, the other, a newly enshrined challenger.
Although the Giants lost 7-6, the audience was a testament to how far the program has come in the last two years, guided by a current class of seniors that includes three future Division I players, several college club players, and one player attending a fifth-year school for lacrosse.
“When I was a freshman, one senior went on to play college lacrosse and that was at Humboldt state with their club team,” Bourke said. “And now, we’re all seniors and everyone of us is going to go do something outside of high school whether it’s playing club or Division I.”
The Michigan-bound long stick midfielder is the best player on a Redwood team that was ranked first in the North Coast Section before an NCS semifinal loss to De La Salle. He is entrusted with the task of developing most of the Giants’ offensive attacks – the essential, transitional link between the two halves of the field.
At 6’2’’ Bourke is big enough to look over defenses and find other players –often his longtime running mate Patrick Tracy – cutting towards the net. Yet he is also laterally quick enough to get by defenders, or, alternatively, stay in front of wide receivers – a skill Bourke parleyed into a second-team all-league honor for his efforts as a defensive back on the football team this fall.
Bourke was also named second-team all-league as a kicker, a career that was notably capped by a 52-yard field goal that hearkened back to Bourke’s freshman season on the varsity soccer team.
Yet, Bourke shines brightest on the lacrosse field. He was named second team all-league as a freshman, won first team honors for his second and third seasons, and will likely be crowned MCAL Player of the Year for the 2014 season.
Such moments, such accolades, have become almost commonplace for Redwood lacrosse in the last few years – a reputation that Bourke hopes will inspire even more Bay Area kids to take up the sport.
“It’s the fastest growing sport in the nation right now…I want to definitely stay involved,” Bourke said. “I’ve thought about doing a summer or a year after college in another country helping spread the sport. I want to help develop young kids so they can have the opportunities that I did.”
