(Photo by Sam McCleery) caption: SUPPORT NETWORK: Chris Sanderson, left, and his daughter, Stevie, survey the scene last Saturday at the Friends of 17 lacrosse event held in his honor at Hopewell Valley High. Sanderson, a standout college and pro lax player who runs the Pennington-based True North Lacrosse company, recently had surgery for the removal of a malignant brain tumor.

Sanderson Heartened by Support as Friends of 17 Lax Event Draws 400

Bill Alden

Chris Sanderson has suffered some tough setbacks during his lacrosse career.

The Ontario native was in goal when his University of Virginia team lost to Princeton in overtime in the 1996 NCAA championship game and when Canada fell in double-overtime to the U.S. in the title game at the 1998 World Championships.

But for Sanderson, those defeats were nothing compared to the dark moment last October when he found out he was suffering from a malignant brain tumor.

“In this age of the Google, you see the numbers right away,” said Sanderson, who had a seizure and had experienced slurred speech before getting an MRI that revealed his cancer. “You see a life expectancy of six-to-nine months and no cure.”

Sanderson, now 35, had a craniotomy last December and is currently undergoing chemotherapy and other treatment.

In battling the illness, Sanderson is drawing on some of the lessons he gained from his lacrosse career.

“You learn to overcome things in sports,” said Sanderson, who came to the Pennington area in 2001 when he joined the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League.

“You see how momentum can change things. It comes down to what is between your ears. You need to stay in a positive place.

Since moving to Central Jersey, Sanderson has positively impacted lacrosse in the area, guiding True North Lacrosse, a company that runs youth lacrosse camps, clinics, and travel teams. He also runs a lacrosse retail store in the Pennington Shopping Center and coaches for the Wings.

Last Saturday, many of the True North players were on hand at Hopewell Valley High as the “Friends of 17,” a group of Sanderson’s supporters, held an event that included a clinic, alumni game, and cookout.

Sanderson was heartened by the show of support he received last Saturday. “We had 400 people there with 90 in the clinic and 60 playing in the alumni game,” said Sanderson who helped teach the clinic and took some turns at attack in the game. “I got a chance to see people I hadn’t seen since my diagnosis.”

Sanderson’s parents got the chance to see what their son has meant to his lacrosse students.

“My parents came down from Canada,” said Sanderson, whose wife, Brogann and two young daughters, Stevie and Clementine, were also on hand.

“They had followed what I had been doing but so many of my players and their parents went up to them. It meant a lot to them. The impact you have as a coach is different than what you have running a store.”

Sanderson is not running from the challenge he is facing. “I have had support from family, we took this in an attack mode,” asserted Sanderson.

“We figured out the best place to have surgery, radiation, treatments, and trials. There is a one percent survival rate and I want to be in that one percent.”

In fighting his battle, Sanderson is savoring things he may have taken for granted in the past.

“I do appreciate the time I do have with family and friends,” said Sanderson. “You have a different perspective, little things don’t bother you like before. I am not sweating the small stuff.”

And with the perspective he has gained from lacrosse, Sanderson has the right stuff to overcome his most serious setback.

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