Four years. Four varsity letters. Four seasons of dedication to a team. Tyler Forbes ’18 has spent his entire Groton career playing lacrosse. Praised by coaches and teammates, both young and old, Tyler is a well-respected leader and captain. What Tyler himself calls “being gritty” and what Coach Low calls being a “dangerous, dangerous player” has paved the way for Tyler’s immense success in the ISL. As a four-year starting attackman for varsity, he has never failed to be a critical member of the team.

Tyler’s love of lacrosse began when he “started throwing a mini stick around with my dad when I was four.” Then, at seven years old, he entered a U9 lacrosse team. He credits his dad and mom with getting him started on the sport, since his mom played in high school and his dad played in college.

Upon his arrival at Groton, he earned a spot the varsity team in the spring of his freshman year. Now in his fourth year on the team and second as captain, Tyler has become a leading attackman. In the 2017 season alone, he scored a total of 81 points, with 44 goals and 37 assists, making him the fourth-leading scorer in the Independent School League (ISL). He received ISL Honorable Mention in 2016 and the ISL All-League distinction in 2017.

While there are many things Tyler enjoys about lacrosse, he boiled his appreciation for the sport down to one thing: “it’s fast.” He also compared it to another sport which he captained, varsity hockey: “My two favorite sports are hockey and lacrosse, and I think lacrosse is basically a mix of hockey and basketball, where you get the best from both.”

As a captain, he believes his role has changed from this year to last. “Last year my role was more of leading by example, like working hard and scoring goals…and less of being a loud voice,” he said, “But this year has been more about being vocal.”

Tyler shares his passion for the sport with his two co-captains, Charlie Pearce ’18 and Patrick Ryan ’19. Tyler feels that the three of them are able to work well together, which in turn can unite the entire team. Specifically, he said that there is this year “a good group of seniors who are willing to do anything for the team.”

This year in particular, there is also a multitude of young talent on the team – some freshmen consistently start. Given the large amount of younger players, leadership is especially important. Tyler said “it’s key” that there are so many young players, and that the “senior and junior crew” are good role models for them. This, he believed, will pave the way for a strong team in years to come.

The team also returns praise onto Tyler. Teddy Carlin ’20 says that Tyler “possesses the ability to essentially take over the game with his shooting ability.” His fellow captain Charlie Pearce ’18 says that Tyler “is a great leader, has great field I.Q., and knows how to get to the gauge.”

Tyler’s coaches also praise his skill and drive. Coach Low, who has seen Tyler in action for quite a few years, thinks that “Tyler Forbes is an invaluable member of this team. His work ethic, his humility, his knowledge of the game, how well he works with his teammates…you could argue that those intangibles make him as valuable as he is.” Coach Andrew Zincke also added that “Tyler’s been really great for us, taking younger players under his wing, showing them the ropes and how to succeed.”

Tyler thinks that the team this year has strong potential, and that they are just as strong as many other teams in the league. Tyler’s goal for the team is to break .500, or win more than half of their games. “Breaking that,” he says, “would be a major success.”

Tyler will be playing at Middlebury College next year, having committed for lacrosse July 1 of last summer. He hopes to play all four years there, and will most definitely hit the ground running in the future with the hard work and successes he has earned at Groton.