The First Academy lacrosse honors veterans at Wounded Warrior game

The First Academy’s boys and girls lacrosse teams, along with the school’s Wounded Warrior Club, hosted and honored a pair of local veterans — retired U.S. Army Major Lorraine Holland and Vietnam War veteran Vincent Monitto — at its annual Wounded Warrior night March 28.

“We’re really glad to have Lorraine and Vincent as our honorees this year,” TFA boys lacrosse coach David Oliver said. “Vincent, a Vietnam War veteran, does so much work helping local veterans as part of the Vietnam Veterans of America organization and the Orlando Mayor’s Veterans Advisory Council. The other person we honored this year was retired Army Major Lorraine Holland, who is currently the Central Florida chapter and Regional President of the Military Officers Association of America.”

As part of the five-game lacrosse event, captains from both of the Royals varsity lacrosse teams and members of the Wounded Warrior Club presented Holland and Monitto each with a $1,000 check and other gifts, including a Royals’ lacrosse jersey and team autographed lacrosse balls. 

“We try to do everything we can to make this a special event for the veterans we’re honoring, as well as the players and families involved,” Royals girls lacrosse coach Nicole Thorndill said. “Not only do we get the girls and the boys teams matching jerseys for that game, to make it even more memorable for them, at the beginning of the games, we have (Oliver) say a prayer for our veterans. I know our girls this year were very motivated to make sure they got the win on the field, too. When we got back to the huddle before the game started, the girls — unprompted — made it clear that they wanted to go out there and get the win for the veterans in attendance. I thought that was really sweet, and they went out there and won the game. A lot of the girls on the team are part of the Wounded Warrior Club or have military family members, so I know that game meant a lot to them, and I know how important honoring our veterans is to us as a school — more than I’ve ever seen before at other schools.”

Oliver started the event in 2010 as a way to honor his late father’s legacy of military service. Since then, the annual game has become one of many traditions and ceremonies TFA hosts to honor local active members of the armed forces and the area’s veteran community. 

“Our assistant head of school, Brian Rose, started the Wounded Warrior Club around 10 years ago to organize different events at the school to honor veterans and current military,” Oliver said. “One of the biggest events we do is our Veterans Day ceremony that brings in something like 5,000 people.”

Thorndill, a newer member of TFA’s staff, said seeing that ceremony left a lasting impact.

“There’s a couple of events that our school does that really made an impression on me in my short time here,” she said. “Obviously, the lacrosse game is a lot of fun for me, because I am directly involved in it and am a part of that process. However, the Veterans Day ceremony the school puts on is an extraordinary event. It always makes me cry. The last few years, I’ve literally cried watching it — not only because how wonderful a moment of honoring our veterans it is but also because of the amount of work that is put into it. I just love what this school does when it comes to celebrating our military community, it’s special.”

Oliver, who quickly became involved with the Wounded Warrior Club and has since taken on a leadership role in it, has made his own mark on the school’s military-honoring events by founding the annual lacrosse game. 

Inspired by a similar event in his native Long Island, New York, that saw thousands of people come out to honor veterans, Oliver thought bringing a game of his own to Central Florida would be a perfect way to celebrate his father’s service.

“Every year, there’s this huge game in Long Island, and thousands of people come from all over the island to watch this game and honor our veterans,” he said. “So, I thought, let’s try to do something like that here at The First Academy. … That was in 2010 just after my dad, a 30-year military veteran, passed away. I was looking for a way to honor him and his dedication to serving our country and this felt like the perfect way. 

“At that time our school was doing a lot of volunteer work in Oakland, helping to build homes out there, do yard work and just clean up yards for veterans,” he said. “Through that, we really started getting involved with our local veterans and were able to build a community for the game that we’ve done since. We love that we’ve able to honor local veterans who do a lot of good work in our community or disabled veterans injured in combat. It’s been a great way for us to give back.”

Along with the Wounded Warrior game and the Veterans Day ceremony, TFA and its Wounded Warrior Club organize a plethora of events to celebrate veterans and active duty military. Most recently, the school, First Orlando and members of the Wounded Warrior Club hosted the United States Army Florida National Guard 3rd Battalion’s 116th Field Artillery Regiment for a deployment ceremony April 6 at the Cramer Family Field House.

“Our Wounded Warrior Club here at The First Academy could be used as a model other schools use to honor our local military community,” Oliver said. “I’m sure other schools are doing similar and great work, but we have an amazing, selfless group of young people that drive this club, and all we try to teach them is that our veterans and those who serve currently are making a tremendous sacrifice. Our school is really big on educating our students about that, about the importance of our military and how it secures our freedoms and rights in this country. … We teach our students that no matter their rank or accomplishments each and every one of our service members and veterans have made an amazing sacrifice for us. That’s where our students come in and recognize that through events like the lacrosse game and really any event we have going on, they are always willing to continue to serve. … We’re very blessed to have students who love our veterans and military families.”