By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 11/9/10
Ethan Heisman admitted he entered The Hill Academy in Ontario, Canada, this fall as a lacrosse player whose main focus was simply scoring goals.
Several months later, he is a completely transformed player.
“I went from being a standstill shooting attackman that just scored goals to now being a midfielder that clears the ball and is working on becoming more of a passer,” said Heisman. “I’ve got to get a lot better at decision-making and passing under pressure.
“That’s still difficult for me, but by the end the year I should be pretty good at that.”
Heisman is spending the 2010-11 year as a member of the first post-graduate team at the well-known prep school power. Heisman scored 115 goals the past two years at Henderson, but had limited Division I offers and decided to improve his chances by spending a year up north.
Not only has Heisman faced a major change my moving from attack to midfield, he’s also been forced to make a bigger commitment to academics.
Heisman recently committed to play Division I lacrosse at Big East member Providence College (see accompanying story) and will sign a National Letter of Intent in the next few days. But he feels the structure and academic demands at Hill Academy will prepare him even more for the college academics.
“It wasn’t that much of a culture shock when I met the kids since they are pretty much the same,” Heisman said. “But Henderson is a public school and the switch to a private school in Canada was major.
“The academics are a lot more demanding. We practice four days a week all year and between lacrosse and school, it’s a lot of time.”
Heisman said the classes at Hill Academy are arranged like a typical college, with plenty of work and high expectations.
“It’s pretty strict and there is definitely a lot more structure than I’m used to,” he said. “I would say the hardest thing to get used to is the classes.
“You have class for an hour and a half. It’s basically like a college. That is really good for me to come here and get used to things to prepare for college.”
On the lacrosse field, Heisman has enjoyed playing for Hill coach Merrick Thomson, the former Albany standout who plays indoor for the Philadelphia Wings. Heisman said his team has played four games and will continue to play all year against other PG teams or college teams that usually employ non-starters.
Heisman had to move to a new position because Providence was looking for midfielders and felt he had untapped skills.
“Providence wanted me to be primarily at midfield and I am still in the process of making that transition,” he said. “We’ve played Syracuse and Mercyhurst It’s been very exciting.
“I already have gotten a ton better as a player and by the end of the year it won’t even be measurable how much better I’ll be.”
