{"id":11569416,"date":"2025-07-25T07:30:26","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T11:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?p=11569416"},"modified":"2025-07-27T14:11:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T18:11:07","slug":"boys-latin-australia-lacrosse-john-stubbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/07\/25\/boys-latin-australia-lacrosse-john-stubbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Boys’ Latin graduate to continue family tradition with Australia lacrosse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Similar to golf’s Masters, Australian lacrosse players who earn the right to represent their country are awarded a green jacket.<\/p>\n

On the occasion, there is a longstanding tradition of the father presenting the prestigious blazer to his son.<\/p>\n\n

The Stubbs family has the routine down pat.<\/p>\n

When 2024 Boys’ Latin graduate John Stubbs recently earned a roster spot on Australia’s Under-20 National Team \u2014 which is set to play in the 2025 World Lacrosse Men’s U-20 Championship in August \u2014 it made three generations of Aussie national lacrosse players in the family.<\/p>\n

John’s grandfather, Bill, who resides in Australia, won a silver medal playing for the senior team at the 1974 World Cup. John’s father, Aaron, who grew up in Australia before moving to Baltimore County in 1998, claimed a bronze medal for the U-19 national team in 1988 and then a silver for the senior team in 1994.<\/p>\n

And now there’s John, 18, who spent December in Australia participating in two tryout sessions that led to the good news in January.<\/p>\n

With his parents by his side, John received a Zoom call from Australia’s U-20 coach Robert Lawson that awarded his spot.<\/p>\n

“Coach let us know I was getting a spot and it was going to be a big job for me, a starting spot in the midfield. It was an incredible feeling,” John said.<\/p>\n

The 20-nation tournament runs from Aug. 15 to 24 in Jeju Island, South Korea. Australia will compete in Pool A alongside the United States, Canada and Haudenosaunee.<\/p>\n

For John, the decision to make the journey to Australia to try out for the team came with sacrifices, pressure and a family blessing.<\/p>\n

After spending two varsity years at Boys’ Latin, he earned a scholarship to Monmouth, but opted to delay his college career to focus on making the team. He’s set to attend and play at Howard Community College this school year before transferring to a four-year school.<\/p>\n

His monthlong stay in Australia included bookend tryouts in Adelaide and Queensland, with the rest of his time spent with his extended family in Perth, where he last visited when he was 6 years old.<\/p>\n

\"Former
"It's an honor, really an honor, and I see it as a privilege more than anything," John Stubbs said of playing lacrosse for Australia. (Lloyd Fox\/Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lawson, who played alongside Aaron for the national team, saw familiar traits in the father-son pair. John followed his father and grandfather by playing the midfield position, and he’s brought the same athleticism, grit and game sense.<\/p>\n

“[John’s] a strong athletic player that has fit in very well to the Australian style on and off the field,” Lawson wrote via e-mail. “Australian Lacrosse is full of family tradition and we’re pleased he is able to share in this story. I played with John’s dad, Aaron, on the 1994 Australian team that competed in world championships in Manchester, England.\u00a0 A proud Western Australian, Aaron was a great character and bustling two-way midfielder.”<\/p>\n

Father and grandfather couldn’t be prouder.<\/p>\n

“It’s exciting. The young fella worked hard, did a lot of extra work and effort, so it was a good reward for him,” Aaron said.<\/p>\n

Plans are in the works to find a time and place for Aaron to carry on the tradition of presenting the green jacket to John, likely somewhere in Catonsville, where the family resides.<\/p>\n

For Aaron, this special time brought back his own special memories of when he got the chance to follow his father’s lead.<\/p>\n

“To actually make the Australian team, follow in his footsteps, it was pretty amazing,” Aaron said. “We both played the same position, so we almost mirrored each other. It was just rewarding knowing you put in all the time and effort.”<\/p>\n

During tryouts, John heard inspiring stories about his father and grandfather. The Stubbs family has long made its mark in Australian lacrosse, and John is excited to add to it.<\/p>\n