Puyallup lacrosse player overcomes homelessness, earns scholarship

Hassan Mackey can’t hide it, not even when it’s covered by his mask during his lacrosse games.

It was always there. It’s his secret weapon, if you will, as he used it stifle opponents while he danced around them to score or set up a teammate for either Emerald Ridge Lacrosse or his club team, the Puyallup Panthers LAX.

Yes, that infectious smile has worked wonders for the young lacrosse player.

It’s almost as contagious as his hair is wild. Mackey can’t help but be happy in life; lacrosse has given him everything he could ask for as he has signed on to play for Eastern Pennsylvania University lacrosse, becoming the first person in his family to attend college.

“It’s a big honor to say I’m the first person to be going to college. It’s unbelievable and I’m really excited about the chance to keep playing,” Mackey said.

Mackey was so I-can’t-believe-he-did-that good out on the field for both club and high school, as he leaves the Panthers as their all-time leading scorer after tallying 94 goals and 122 assists. As a senior, Mackey had 29 goals and 45 assists in 14 games for the Jaguars — incredible numbers over such a short span of a season.

“I feel every day I get to play lacrosse is a gift. It’s (more) time I get to spend out teaching it to people or playing it with my friends,” Mackey said. “It’s another chance to be out here with my best friend and my father (Larry Mackey).”

There’s another reason why Mackey loves these summer days out on the field with his stick and gear, working on the intricacies of the game in preparations for college lacrosse.

It’s the foundation of who is as a young African American male entering a world that once wasn’t very inviting to people of his skin color.

A simple drive

When Larry Mackey looks at his son Hassan playing — or when he watches his daughter Asia study at home — he sees all the future that this world has given him and his family. This is the future he fought hard for his family.

“I wanted to teach them that you have to work hard to get to where you want to go in life,” Larry said. “You are the only obstacle standing in your way.”

It’s a lesson Hassan took to heart, knowing where his father came from, even not understanding the life he’s lived. But Hassan has an idea.

Since 2008, the Mackey family has been homeless, falling victim to the housing crisis that left Larry bruised.

“That was on me for not understanding the situation better,” Larry admitted. “But no matter what we went through, I made sure I made my family smile every day.”

For eight years, Larry spent his mornings driving Hassan and Asia to school. It was a long drive each morning as he would drop Hassan off at Emerald Ridge before fighting traffic to get his daughter to Bethel schools on time.

“I actually didn’t mind those drives,” Hassan said. “I made up my mind on going to Emerald Ridge, and he helped support me the entire time.”

Hassan saw the sacrifice his father was making for him, sacrifices that were easy for Larry after the life he’s lived. When Hassan looks at his father, he sees everything he wants to become. He sees the strength that has built his foundation.

“He’s the strongest person I know,” Hassan said.

But there’s a deeper truth to Larry’s strength, one where so many of will never fully understand. It’s the truth about inclusivity and rising up from a cyclical pattern of poverty that so many fall into generation after generation.

Larry overcame that cycle, and even pushed his children to go beyond him.

“When I see him (Hassan), I see much potential. Potential on where his life can take him,” Larry said while holding back tears. “All he’s ever known is what’s been given to him. He had the chance to play lacrosse, but when I was his age, there wasn’t that opportunity.”

Hassan’s life has been a success story built from a drive, a passion in a sport that’s just beginning to blossom in Washington. But to understand Hassan, you have to understand the life of his father.

This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Puyallup lacrosse player overcomes homelessness, earns scholarship."