So when he was awarded Hamilton’s Bristol Fellowship to pursue a year of independent study abroad, it was no surprise that Ratner chose to explore the culture of lacrosse throughout the world. “My goal was always to learn,” he said, now having returned from his travel abroad. He shared his own knowledge where he could, but found much more value in drawing from the uniquely beautiful differences in which each new culture he visited experienced the sport.
Intent on capturing the culture of lacrosse, Ratner traveled everywhere from the colleges of Tokyo, to the small town of Bukaya in Uganda, and even to the prestigious Wildfire Lacrosse Festival in Ghana. However, no matter where he traveled, he found that lacrosse built a shared community.
In Bukaya, he watched about 100 kids play lacrosse every day, sometimes not even keeping score but entirely fulfilled by their love for the sport. Similarly, in the Czech Republic, Ratner integrated into a generational lacrosse club; he watched as players trained to carry on the legacy of their own parents and grandparents, all competing for the same team.
“The biggest similarity [among cultures] is when you see a little kid with a lacrosse stick and they can’t put it down,” Ratner reflected. “Once you get that feeling, you start to care for your stick, and then it’s a part of you.”
Ratner’s adventure also taught him a more personal lesson: that of the ways to build a home. Lacrosse became his mode of communication and string of connection to each new place he visited. He found that he was treated like family, just by virtue of playing the sport, and that privilege came with a host of lessons. Ratner absorbed practical skills, like the logistics of keeping up with Uganda’s “tougher” style of play, but he also learned to “laugh like someone from Uganda” and to “cook like someone from Côte d’Ivoire.”
Everyone he came across was willing to share massive swaths of their time and wisdom. “There’s power in this little game,” Ratner said. “There’s people who will look out for you everywhere, just because you play it.”
Now back in the United States, Ratner plans to facilitate the same multicultural community that he feels so grateful to have experienced. “If I see a traveler from another country, I always make sure to make them feel welcome,” he said. After all, lacrosse requires that individuals “pour their soul into the field;” it only makes sense to Ratner for that outpouring of passion to be cultivated and shared.
