CITY LIFE

completely clueless and more tired than I had ever been in my life at that point, but I’m glad I started, because it started something that I’m really passionate about now.”

Farmer eventually competed for midwest club teams like East Ave in Elmhurst and Four Star shortly after. Once he joined Kenwood’s varsity squad as a freshman in 2020, the rising attacker was ready to unleash his prolific scoring ability on the field despite his limited three years of experience.

This season, Farmer reached a remarkable milestone in his career when he scored 27 points in just four games. This incredible breakthrough launched him into the Illinois High School Association’s individual statistical ranking as the state’s top point-scorer for a few weeks. Currently, Farmer is fi fth in most points in the IHSA.

Despite Farmer’s success, most lacrosse players from all levels in the northeastern and mideastern states are white U.S. citizens from wealthy environments, meaning that derogatory epithets and ethnic slurs are assuredly every Black player’s worst concern. While succeeding in a white sport like lacrosse, Farmer is keenly aware of being a target of overt racism.

“Honestly while playing the games at Kenwood I have not [been targeted],” he says. “But in my experiences playing for club teams and in other places in the midwest, I have certainly experienced some strange comments and slights about people being surprised that I play and that I’m good. I’ve had comments made about my hair or even just other players slighting me because of the color of my skin. But I’m aware of my position as a minority player in the sport, and it makes me more passionate about allowing lacrosse to become more expansive in Black communities so that no more people will have to feel like I have felt for just playing the sport that I love.”

Within the last five seasons of coaching Kenwood’s middle and high school teams, Johnson remembers unpleasant moments that have no place in any sport, let alone one as electrifying as lacrosse.

“There have definitely been some moments,” says Johnson. “In a middle school game against Beverly, one of my players was called the n-word by another player on the field. He was really upset; we talked to the other coach, and she talked to this player. Beyond that, there wasn’t really much else that we did. We talked about it, we tried to fi x it and repair it the best we could. But once