When Kyle Harrison played lacrosse at Johns Hopkins, his hours were plotted far in advance, almost to the second.
There was shooting in the morning, film study in the afternoon, lacrosse practice, a lifting session, more film study in the evening, and of course classes mixed in. Then he got up the next morning and repeated.
Life as a Major League Lacrosse player, Harrison has learned, is quite different. Practicing is a luxury. Film study is sparse. For most players, the sport becomes secondary to primary jobs and everyday life. .
"The hardest thing about MLL is that guys have other jobs. They're not paid well enough to do lacrosse full time," said Harrison, 24, one of the most respected midfielders in the game. "You've got guys on Wall Street trying to rush to get to practice."
So when an All-Star selection comes along, players feel rewarded for their summer sacrifices. Today, 35 of the best lacrosse players in the world - 17 with Baltimore-area ties - will be in Boston for the sixth MLL All-Star Game at 12:30 p.m. at Harvard Stadium.
Harrison, the No. 1 overall pick of the New Jersey Pride in the 2005 draft, will play in his third All-Star Game, but he's happier to share this one with former Hopkins teammate and longtime friend Benson Erwin, a first-time selection. The two won a national championship on the 2005 Hopkins team.
Erwin, also a Baltimore native, plays midfield for the Denver Outlaws.
"In my opinion he's been one of the best short sticks in the game for the past five or six years since we were in college," Harrison said of Benson. "It's nice to finally see him get rewarded."
For the first time, the players voted in the All-Stars.
Spencer Ford, a Towson graduate who plays attack for the Los Angeles Riptide, is also a first-time All-Star. Ford graduated in 1999, and before this season he had spent six years bouncing in and out of the league.
Ford, 31, is first in MLL in assists (27) and third in points (36). He will compete in the Accuracy Skills competition at halftime of today's game.
"It's above and beyond what my expectations were," Ford said. "I'm [finally] getting to do it."
Mickey Jarboe, Ford's Riptide teammate and a Towson native who graduated from Navy in 2000, was not actively pursuing a lacrosse career. After college he moved the San Diego, where he is a Navy pilot. Jarboe had been away from the game for six years until a teammate approached him about getting back in goal. The two-time All-American at Navy proved in a one-day tryout that he was capable again and made the Riptide. Making an All-Star team his first year in the league is something Jarboe could not have imagined.
"I thought it'd take me a lot longer," said Jarboe, who is third in the league with a .538 save percentage. "But the team around me has been the key this year. I'm just the lucky one who gets to go."
Meanwhile, Harrison's team has not been very successful this season. New Jersey is last in the East with a 2-5 record. Harrison, a three-time All-American and national Player of the Year in 2005, did not lose many games in college. Hopkins went 55-6 in his four years and played in four final fours.
But in his third year in the league, Harrison is optimistic about the future.
"It takes guys about a year or two to figure out how to play in this league. I think I'm just starting to figure it out," Harrison said. "It's a transition."
sirage.yassin@baltsun.com