July 9, 2012

At this year's Tewaaraton Awards held at the National Museum of the American Indian on May 31st, Peter Baum was named the top male collegiate lacrosse player of 2012. Baum, a junior at Colgate University, has certainly proven worthy of the accolade as the top scoring Patriot League Offensive player of the year that holds 176 career points.

After receiving his award and heading back to Colgate University, Baum took some time out to speak with Indian Country Today Media Network to discuss how he felt about receiving such an honor, and, what the game and spirit of lacrosse meant to him.

How did you feel when they announced your name?

There was a lot of emotion. I was just astonished. A lot of people asked me if I was surprised that I had won it. I don't think I was surprised as much as I was shocked at the fact that after God knows how many years of playing lacrosse you finally have a moment like that. It was pretty unbelievable.

When did you first get started playing lacrosse?

I started playing lacrosse in sixth grade, which is certainly not as long as some of the other guys but longer than some.

I played a lot of sports growing up, I loved soccer and I played hockey for a long time. I even played baseball before I played lacrosse. But when I got into lacrosse in the sixth grade I was good at it right from the start. I loved that you could really practice outside of practices and games. It was so easy to play wall ball or go shoot. I also had a good group of friends who liked to play.

Do you have any special training techniques?

I shoot a lot of balls. I get out and shoot every shot you could imagine, shots you are going to take in a game. My friends and I - and some of them have been very successful in college lacrosse - in high school, we would shoot four days a week, we would shoot before practice we would shoot after practice.

Were you influenced by any professional players growing up?

I always enjoyed watching the Powell's from Syracuse play. I think Kyle Harrison was my favorite player. I have been lucky enough to get to know Kyle really well over the past couple years. He lives in Los Angeles now and I have spent a lot of time with him. It's been great watching him play over the years and then in professional lacrosse - I just love his style of play, he is so athletic.

For the full article by Vincent Schilling of Indian Country Today Media Network.com click here