After graduating from the University of Indianapolis in May, alumnus and lacrosse attack, Parker Kump returned to his hometown after being drafted to be an attack for the semi-professional box lacrosse team Coquitlam Adanacs in British Columbia. Kump was drafted in the sixth round of the 2019 Western Lacrosse Association draft as the 36th overall pick and joined the Coquitlam Adanacs WLA senior A box lacrosse team, according to wlalacrosse.com. In 2016, UIndy launched their first men’s field lacrosse season, according to Men’s Head Lacrosse Coach Greg Stocks. Kump was one of the 30 recruits to play for this team.
According to Stocks, box lacrosse is a six-on-six variation of field lacrosse that is played in a hockey-like arena. Stocks said in box lacrosse, the nets are smaller and the goalies wear hockey-like padding. The stick skills tend to be sharper because of the lack of space and the players rely on those skills to be successful box lacrosse players, according to Stocks.
Stocks said that during Kump’s time at UIndy, he was able to join the team and make an instant impact by using his stick skills that he developed from playing box lacrosse growing up, paired with being a smart overall lacrosse player.
Kump’s transition to field lacrosse from box was quick, which allowed him to focus on his academics and be successful in the classroom as well as on the field Stocks said. He said Kump achieved various awards, both academic and athletic during his four year college career. According to UIndy athletics, Kump’s senior year he had a career high 61 goals and 22 assists and he ended his career with 166 goals 45 assists.
“He was also awarded Scholar All American, which is an award to seniors that excel… in both the classroom and on the field,” Stocks said. “His junior year he was also awarded a Scholar Athlete of the Year for men’s lacrosse, for the GLVC conference. He’s racked up a few awards and he also won Player of the Week All Conference awards throughout his career here.”
Kump said that he felt that the group of guys on the Adanacs clicked well right away to start the season. He said that it was a good experience meeting people from all walks of life. Kump said that he experienced a big jump between college field lacrosse and semi professional senior box lacrosse. According to Kump, he would use his practice time to try to absorb as much information as possible from the veteran players in the league.
“It took a bit [to transition], probably a few games and my coaches were good,” Kump said. “When I got back they let me practice a bit and sit out the first couple of games just to get my feet under me because changing from field lacrosse to box lacrosse in such a short window is difficult. [It is a] totally different game, totally different strategies. Then once I got the hang of it, they put me in and I saw quite a bit of success pretty early, so I was lucky and fortunate.”
In one of Kump’s first games during his rookie season in the WLA, he said that his eyes were opened to the intensity of it when he was struck with a lacrosse stick by an opponent that he had grown up watching.
“I got slashed pretty hard by a guy,” Kump said. “He’s a veteran now that I’ve grown up watching and he slashed me [in] my first shift and I couldn’t feel my hand the rest of the game and I was like, ‘Okay, I got into this.’ I guess [it] definitely opened my eyes a little.”
Kump said that he was starstruck when he first stepped onto the box lacrosse field after returning home from university. He said that growing up and watching players that he is now on the same team with was shocking.
“[It] took a little bit to get used to… and playing with some of them on my team is pretty crazy because you see them, but you just want to be a sponge,” Kump said. “My rookie year, I was just trying to learn and I had great coaches around me, so [I] just tried to learn as fast as I can and catch up [to] all of them. I ended up having a decent rookie year, so it worked out good and [I am] really excited for next season.”
