Jeff Trainor was watching the Major League Lacrosse draft online Monday when his phone rang.
About 15 minutes later, the UMass senior midfielder saw his name pop up on the screen when the Denver Outlaws made him the 35th pick in the sixth round.
“I’ve been playing lacrosse for a long time,” Trainor said. “Just to see all the hard work pay off and make it to the next level is very rewarding. I want to thank all my teammates and coaches and everyone else who helped me along the way.”
Trainor was a three-sport athlete with a love for basketball growing up in Billerica, but he turned his focus to lacrosse after his freshman year at Billerica Memorial.
At UMass, Trainor saw former teammates go pro. Isaac Paparo was drafted by the Whipsnakes of the Premier Lacrosse League, while goalie Sean Sconone played for the Dallas Rattlers of the MLL.
“Playing with them for multiple years definitely puts things in perspective,” Trainor said. “When you work hard and the culture is right and you have the right people around you, that the next level is attainable. That’s how it worked for me. I was able to learn a lot from those guys and they were able to teach me a lot about work ethic and how to act on and off the field. Without those guys, I don’t know if this would have been possible.”
Trainor finished with 14 goals and six assists in seven games for the Minutemen this season. He was named an Inside Lacrosse Third-Team All-American.
“All last year my focus wasn’t about the MLL or getting drafted, it was more about UMass lacrosse,” Trainor said. “I owed that to my teammates and that’s what I wanted to focus on. UMass lacrosse was my focus.”
UMass will be his focus moving forward. The Minutemen were 5-2 and gaining momentum with a four-game win streak that included a win over then-No. 1 Yale when the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NCAA announced that spring athletes can regain their lost year of eligibility, and Trainor said he will take advantage of that option.
“You only get four years of college sports and unfortunately all this COVID stuff happened, but fortunately the NCAA allowed us eligibility back,” Trainor said. “We’re going to take nothing for granted, go back, work hard and have great leadership from the senior class that we had this past year.”
The loss of a potential successful season is serving as motivation for the Minutemen.
“That’s why our senior class plans to come back, all of us except for one or two,” Tranior said. “It’s put in perspective how much everybody really cared and how much everybody wanted it this year. That’s what made it so easy to come back.”
UMass coach Greg Cannella is happy to have his midfielder back.
“We are thrilled that Jeff has both been drafted for Major League Lacrosse and that he is also returning for a fifth year of eligibility playing for our program in 2020-21,” Cannella said in a statement. “Jeff has been one of the best two-way midfielders in the nation over the last four years. We expect that to continue, along with his great ability to lead his teammates on and off the field.”
Denver will retain Trainor’s draft rights. When he does head off to the Outlaws, he will be a teammate with Hobart attackman Eric Holden, who starred for Lincoln-Sudbury at the same time Trainor was playing for Billerica. Holden was taken with the 29th pick.
Trainor never beat Holden in high school.
“You talk about a kid who knows his lacrosse. He’s a Mass boy,” Trainor said. “I think it’s really cool where he’s also selected by the Outlaws so we can bring a little bit of the Massachusetts out to Colorado.”
NOTE: Amherst College senior attackman Colin Minicus was drafted 33rd by the Philadelphia Barrage, who are returning to the league. They last played in the MLL in 2008.
Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com. Follow on Twitter @mikemoranDHG.