Nothing brings out Ryan Arist’s sentimental side like a story that meshes lacrosse and family.
While visiting Kenya this summer on a two-week expedition designed to introduce lacrosse to schools around the East African country, he connect particularly with one young man. Vincent Onyongi, a member of the Kenyan national team, was both a counselor for daily camps and a benefactor of Arist’s teachings.
Most days of the trip, funded through Fellowship of Christian Athletes, included a mid-day session that served as the equivalent of a gym class followed by an after-school lacrosse clinic. Each boasted 100-plus interested players. In between, Arist and a group of coaches and players with ties to Harford County spent time immersed with the locals.
Onyongi previously lived with his parents and two brothers in a narrow, overcrowded home in Nairobi. About a year and a half ago, his parents and youngest brother moved to a village 90 minutes away. Onyongi stayed — with his mom’s blessing — because it offered a chance to play lacrosse coupled with a better education, even if it meant losing communication with his family.
Arist forged a real bond with Onyongi. On the last day of their trip, the quarter-century-long Patterson Mill coach took him shopping for groceries and other household necessities as a show of gratitude.
And then, Arist said, “We got word that his mom was looking for him.”
Watching mother and son embrace after a year and a half apart left Arist weeping. He called it one of the most touching moments of his life. That embrace was all he could think about on the plane ride home.
‘I just shared my heart’
Two years ago, Harford County’s head of FCA, Tommy Shumaker, introduced Arist to Fred Osore, Kenya’s FCA representative. The two quickly bonded and started forming a plan to let Arist lead an expedition to teach lacrosse in Kenya. It turned into so much more.
The group included former North Harford JV coach Arlo Weiskopf; Wyatt Shiflett III, a junior at John Carroll; his dad, Wyatt Shiflett II, who played at Calvert Hall, then Towson; Edgewood’s former goalie, Dillon Newport; and members of Liberty’s men’s lacrosse team.
Together they donated 26 duffel bags full of lacrosse gear and jerseys to schools all around the country as well as to the national team, which is set to compete in the Canadian Super 6’s in October.
Vincent Onyongi, left, a member of the Kenyan national team stands with Patterson Mill coach Ryan Arist and Onyongi’s mom, who he had reunited with after a year and a half apart. Arist recently helped organize a two-week trip to Kenya to spread lacrosse. (Courtesy of Ryan Arist)
Many of the younger kids had no prior concept of the sport — some joked about sticks having fishing nets. At one school, the goal was held up by logs and mosquito netting.
There’s a picture of Arist speaking to about 150 attentive Kenyan kids before one practice. He’s repping a teal Patterson Mill lacrosse shirt. The longtime coach recently stepped down from his post coaching the Huskies’ wrestling and lacrosse teams to spend more time with his family, including coaching his 7-year-old son who recently picked up a stick.
“I have a passion about coaching,” Arist said. “I know what it’s done for me. I’m 50 years old, I’ve played and coached my entire life. So I shared, this is what lacrosse has done for me in my life and this is why I’m over here. … It’s nothing I had to prepare for. I just shared my heart. It means enough for me to come from United States all the way to Africa to share.”
His heart warms at seeing the Kenyan national team wearing donated jerseys from MaGerks Pub & Grill in Bel Air. “They took ownership like, ‘We’re now Team MaGerks,’” said Arist, who promised if they ever visit Maryland he’d treat the whole team to lunch.
The Kenyan national team poses while wearing jerseys donated by MaGerks Pub & Grill in Bel Air. Ryan Arist promised to take the team to MaGerks if they’re ever in Maryland. (Photo by Ryan Arist)
Two weeks in Kenya gave Arist a lifetime worth of memories and one deeply profound connection. Shiflett III recounted a similar tale of lacrosse-fueled bond.
Antony Ochieng, who, similar to Onyongi, recently made the national team, taught himself to play lacrosse in Nairobi with his younger brother, Mackvine Onyango. The John Carroll midfielder noticed his new friend’s reliance on raw athleticism.
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“I was teaching him a lot about the game, kind of like the details,” Shiflett III said. “Shot fundamentals, how to dodge better and more effectively. … I was trying to help him refine his game and I think – I hope – that’s one of the reasons he made the Kenyan team.”
As the Shifletts arrived at the airport to catch their flight home, someone ran up behind father and son. “Tony and Mack, the two brothers, they had to give this to you before you leave,” Shiflett II recalled him saying. It was a piece of artwork. A parting gift that for them, means the world.
The Harford County contingent deboarded in Maryland with countless memories and a newfound fandom for the growth of Kenyan lacrosse because of the friendships the sport afforded them.
“The big vision I [talked about] everywhere we went,” Arist said, “I’m like, ‘Hey, you are the future of Kenya lacrosse. One day, we want you in the Olympics. One day, we want you in the World Games. This is an opportunity to put [Kenya lacrosse] on the map.”
Patterson Mill lacrosse coach Ryan Arist speaking to a group of students at an after-school clinic. He said he spoke from the heart about what lacrosse has meant in his life and how he hopes to one day see Kenya competing in the Olympics. (Photo courtesy of Ryan Arist)
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