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April 5, 2006
OFF THE FIELD WITH ABDULRAHMAN EL-SAYED
A member of the new era of defense in
Michigan Lacrosse, junior
Abdulrahman El-Sayed knew he had some pretty big shoes to fill
coming into 2006. With the graduation of four highly distinguished
senior defenders at the end of '05, the Wolverines had some major
reloading to do in the back of their ranks. They also knew they had
quality players, who with time, would form their own identity as a unit,
and hopefully provide the same shut down defense that Michigan has
enjoyed in recent years.
To help speed up that process, El-Sayed
employed a strict training regiment over the summer to not only improve
physically, but to also improve his game. According to him, the efforts
have paid off tremendously, and if you asked the Wolverine coaching
staff, they would certainly agree.
A 4.0 student in Pre-Med, El-Sayed is on
pace to graduate in only three years. However, as the Bloomfield native
discusses, the experience of playing lacrosse at Michigan is far too
valuable to even consider passing up a senior season…
On his high school lacrosse
experience:
"I played four years of varsity lacrosse at
Bloomfield United. The program was pretty small relatively. We'd get
rocked by the bigger schools like Brother Rice and Seaholm, but it was
still a great experience. My coaches were always really supportive. I
played long-stick middie for the first couple of years and then got
moved back to close defense for my junior and senior season. I was a
team captain for two years. My coaches helped me get a few looks from
some D-III and D-II schools. It was nice because with our program being
so small I was able to do a lot of different things on the field."
On his decision to go to Michigan:
"I lived all over the country, but my mom
did part of her PHD here, so I always liked the Maize and Blue before I
was even thinking college. It became a lot more intense when I moved to
Michigan and came to middle school and high school and Michigan was
always that choice that both my parents and I agreed on. In the end it
was the combination of the great academic experience, and being able to
play lacrosse at a high level where I could make an impact. And I
always wanted to be able to wear the "block M" and the winged helmet of
course. I came to a couple of games before I came to school here and I
started talking to coach Paul towards the end of my senior season. I
came and toured the facilities, and he was real interested in having
me. At that point I was pretty hooked."
On making the transition back to close
"D" for the second time:
"I learned a lot in my two years at
long-stick middie working behind David Silverman. We still keep in
touch and I really consider him a mentor actually. So it was a good
experience playing there. But at the same time, I think playing close
defense fits me a little more. It took some of the fall to learn how to
play the bottom position instead of the top, but I knew I'd be making
the move all year, so I worked on it a lot during the summer with Matt
Hudson."
On his summer training:
"This off-season I had two goals over the
summer. One was academic and to score well on my MCATs and the second
was to be the best lacrosse player I could be. I spent a lot of time
this summer working, whether it was in the weight room or running the
stairs or playing wall ball and working on my stick skills. It was a
great summer. I hope I can do the same thing this summer. I wasn't
just improving my skills, I was improving my confidence in my game.
When you put that much work in over the summer and you know no other guy
on the field worked that hard, its real empowering."
On retaining the habits:
"Obviously I feel like I'm reaping the
benefits of all the work I put in. But it's not just the skills I
built, it's also the habits I built that I think is the most important
part. I remember the work I put in, and I think about that, and now
when I go about my activities during the season, I tell myself I have no
excuse but to work my butt of all the time."
On the pressure of his unit replacing
a group of four, extremely talented former players:
"I think you're always going to have
pressure here at Michigan. But I don't think they expected us to be as
good as I think we have been so far. I still don't think we've come
close to reaching our potential though. But defense is always going to
be a pressure position regardless, but I think we've gelled pretty
nicely. I think Spring Break was huge for us. The difference between
those opening games and the final games was huge I think. That's when
we started clicking. We started understanding each other. The
Invitational was also big for us because it was another opportunity to
play with each other for several days in a row and that really helps you
learn."
On the importance of communication on
defense:
"It's absolutely key to executing a
successful defense. As a defense we are starting to do that a lot
better. We still have lapses at time. I think it puts a lot more trust
each other when everyone is talking and we know where we need to be. I
think it also intimidates offenses when they see that we are all on the
same page."
On how his Muslim heritage has been a
part of his lacrosse experience:
"Obviously it's a big part of everything I
do. In my life it's my number one priority to make sure I fulfill my
responsibilities as a Muslim. A lot of the reason I feel I work as hard
as I do, is because when I'm on the field, sometimes I'm not only
playing for myself, but also for all those Muslim guys who can't get out
there. And also I can affect people through this medium of sport,
because they don't necessarily know Muslim people. It's been great to
share my experiences with others and learn from them. It's nice to see
as a team how we can cross these social boundaries and just work as a
team and play the game. That's something we as a society should be
working towards."
On how he has used his lacrosse
experience in other aspects of life:
"School for me always came pretty easy.
And I think everyone needs their own challenge. For me, lacrosse was my
challenge. I think having to put in the work and digging deep to be a
successful player, I think that lesson was more valuable than anything I
could learn in the classroom."
On his post-collegiate plans:
"I could graduate after this year, but I do
plan on coming back next year. It would be a shame to play three years
and not get that fourth crowning year. We were just having dinner with
those seniors from last year, and they told us how that last year was a
completely different experience. For better or worse I want to see
that. After that I think I might want to work in medicine, hopefully
Trauma. I think I could really put to work what I've learned playing
lacrosse, like thinking on your feet and working as a team. I'm also
interested in law and taking my knowledge of medicine and working with
policy, such as improving health care in third-world countries, or even
with our poor here in America."
Contact: Joe Hennessy (734) 276-8493,
jjhennes@umich.edu
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