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By HILLEL KUTTLER<\/p>\n
BALTIMORE (JTA) — In the years after coming out as gay, lacrosse player Andrew Goldstein recalls being asked on panel discussions whether major American professional sports leagues would include openly gay athletes.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a question, Goldstein said, that is no longer relevant with Jason Collins in the National Basketball Association and Michael Sam, who was drafted recently by the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in a new era, and at the very least, kids in high school who are closeted can say, \u2018If I\u2019m good enough in my sport, I can play at any level,\u2019 \u201c said Goldstein, one of the earliest U.S. team-sport athletes to come out. “That is a huge change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goldstein, 31, who twice earned All-America honorable mention as a goalie at Dartmouth, is playing for a national Israeli lacrosse team that like himself is somewhat of a pioneer.<\/p>\n
The Israelis will be making their debut in the World Lacrosse Championships that open Friday in Denver \u2013 remarkable for a squad that didn\u2019t even exist four years ago.<\/p>\n
Joining the Israeli squad, he said, \u201chas changed my life, given me something to believe in and work hard for\u201d athletically.<\/p>\n
Last week, speaking from Vail, Colo., during a break in the team\u2019s workouts, Goldstein spoke about the changed landscape for gay athletes since he came out in 2005 in an interview with ESPN.com and in a report aired on the network.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was in high school, there were really no openly gay role models in sports that a closeted high school athlete could look up to,\u201d said Goldstein, who was raised near Boston.<\/p>\n
That made his situation \u201creally tough thing to deal with,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I wanted to be an athlete, I would have to be closeted. If I wanted to be gay, I\u2019d have to quit my sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the emotional support he received from his Dartmouth teammates exceeded all expectations.<\/p>\n
“I knew I had 30 tough guys on my team who had my back,” Goldstein said. “Certainly the team mentality is a good thing when it comes to coming out.”<\/p>\n
Goldstein, a scientist who oversees a Los Angeles laboratory that conducts research on prostate cancer, returned recently to lacrosse. He\u2019s playing for a Beverly Hills club in an amateur league in his first competitive experiences since 2006, when he was a member of the Long Island (N.Y.) Lizards, a Major League Lacrosse franchise.<\/p>\n
In July 2013, Scott Neiss, a Tel Aviv resident and executive director of Israel Lacrosse, which promotes the sport in the country, recruited Goldstein for the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t know if he still had it,\u201d said Neiss, who worked for the Lizards when Goldstein played there. \u201cAfter seeing him try out, we knew that he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
His teammates on the Israeli squad \u2013 all U.S. immigrants and American Jewish players \u2013 include some intriguing characters possessing fine lacrosse pedigree.<\/p>\n
They include Reuven Dressler, a standout at Yale before immigrating to Israel and now, as a 41-year-old physician, could be the starting goalie. Midfielder Matthew Cherry, like Dressler a native Philadelphian, was a 2013 first-team All-America at Dickinson who when the world tournament ends will begin basic training in the Israeli military.<\/p>\n
Another midfielder, Casey Cittadino, plays with the MLL\u2019s Charlotte Hounds. Defenseman Ben Smith played for Harvard and now serves as the Crimson\u2019s assistant coach.<\/p>\n
Calling Smith \u201cprobably the top young Jewish coach\u201d in the sport, Neiss said he could be overseeing the Israeli team by the 2018 world championships.<\/p>\n
It was Neiss and several other American immigrants passionate about the sport who established a lacrosse beachhead in the Jewish state.<\/p>\n
They secured funding from American Jewish donors, which started the ball rolling. Israel Lacrosse now has an annual budget of approximately $700,000, offices in New York and Tel Aviv and 11 full-time employees in Israel who promote lacrosse through free clinics at Israeli schools and programs charging participation fees.<\/p>\n
This year, 250 paying participants were enrolled, with a goal of 700 next year, Neiss said.<\/p>\n
Still, it remains a niche sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re shooting for the stars,\u201d Neiss told JTA last year during an exhibition game, when Israel defeated the Philippines\u2019 national team. \u201cWe want to make lacrosse the national sport of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel played other friendlies in the lead-up to Denver, including in Ashkelon last summer against Turkey; in September in Syracuse, N.Y., against the Iroquois Nation; and in March in Ireland.<\/p>\n
Its first of three opening-round matches in Denver will be Friday afternoon against Sweden.<\/p>\n
Goldstein had been invited to try out for the U.S. team competing in the 2006 world championships but was cut. He had visited Israel as a 10-year-old, but didn\u2019t return until this year, when he helped run clinics with fellow Israel Lacrosse members at high schools in Ashkelon and Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n
Gathering in Colorado, it was the first time many Israeli team members met one another. The 46-man squad will be trimmed to 23 for the tournament, with the remainder staying in Denver to play exhibitions.<\/p>\n
Goldstein comes from an athletically gifted family. His sister, Lauren, and their father, Irwin, played hockey for Brown. Irwin\u2019s father, Sol, was a goalie for a semi-pro hockey team in his native Montreal. Andrew\u2019s brother, Bryan, was a lacrosse player at Amherst.<\/p>\n
His spouse, Jamie Duneier, isn’t a big sports fan. But Goldstein said Duneier enjoys coming to games and practices, and has fit right in with the wives and girlfriends of the Israeli players.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe like to say he\u2019s the first lacrosse husband,\u201d Goldstein said.<\/p>\n
Goldstein clearly has newfound energy for his sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecapturing a little bit of the lacrosse magic is pretty exciting,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s this amazing feeling of being on the field and just doing what you were born to do, and leaving everything else behind.\u201d<\/p>\n