For most student-athletes, signing to play a sport in college is the realization of a childhood dream. For Matt Hyde, it’s the realization of a dream he never even had.
Four years ago, Hyde couldn’t have told you what lacrosse is, let alone how to play it. Now, he’s making plans for four more seasons of the sport, after signing a letter of intent to play lacrosse at St. Gregory’s University near Oklahoma City.
“My freshman year, sophomore year, junior [year], I never even dreamed of going to college to play lacrosse. We’d joke about it,” Hyde says. “This year I was like, ‘This could actually happen.’ I started talking to coaches and… it just came together, and I’m so glad it did.”
After growing up with other, more traditional sports, Hyde went out for the Republic lacrosse team as a freshman. After that, he “couldn’t go back,” Hyde says. “I don’t know what it was, but it just caught me. It’s like nothing else it. It’s the pace of basketball with the field of football and the contact of football, and similarities to hockey.”
Lacrosse is a club program in Republic, not officially tied to the school district. But Hyde’s skills, and his prospects for advancement, have mirrored the growth of the program here.
“The team used to be a joke, really. We’d just go out there and mess around,” he says. “But it’s real now. Hard work every day, hitting the grind, and that’s made us what we are today.”
Republic lacrosse didn’t win a game in Hyde’s first season. They won a single game the next year, and won 12 games last season.
At St. Gregory’s, Hyde will be getting in on the early years of another program. Next year will be just the second season of lacrosse at the school. Hyde says he looks forward to the building process there, too.
“It’s a very small program. It’s a small school. It’s another program that I’ll have an opportunity to help grow and be a leader on, which is something I really like,” Hyde says. “Having an influence is something I really value in a team, so that’s what I looked for.”
Republic lacrosse coach Donnie Curran says Hyde’s off-the-field traits are just as important to his success as what he does on the field.
“The guy brings a lot to the table,” says Curran. “His work ethic and his heart shines through, and that’s the reason why he’s been given the opportunity to play at the next level.”
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