Headlines
Subscribe to our NewsletterLike Father Like Son
Bridgewater Patch
- June 21, 2011
Like Father Like Son, Hollingsworth Follows in Dad's Footsteps
Twenty-five years ago, MG Hollingsworth couldn’t have pictured this. Back in 1986, he was just finishing a memorable All-American season of his own at Bridgewater.
Sitting in the stands during last week’s New Jersey Tournament of Champions, Hollingsworth watched the Bridgewater-Raritan boy’s varsity lacrosse team finish a historic season with a 6-5 win over Summit. The Bridgewater alum, and father to Bridgewater’s Ryan Hollingsworth, was so overwhelmed with emotions, he began crying.
After the celebration, the younger Hollingsworth saw his father in the stands and simply told him, “Get it together, Dad.”
“I was balling my eyes out,” MG Hollingsworth said. “For 30 to 45 minutes I was crying, but I didn’t care. It just really blows your mind when you actually see it happen. All of those kids that I’ve coached on that team are like my sons and I’m very attached to all of them.”
It’s hard to blame Hollingsworth for showing his emotions as he’s watched the Panther’s lacrosse program grow from the very start. The team has been a legitimate program in New Jersey for about 30 years, and he has been a major factor in the program’s success as a former player and coach of the youth and middle school teams.
“Bridgewater lacrosse is a huge part of my life,” he said. “I do it as a passion, but it doesn’t seem like a job. I truly enjoy working with kids and I noticed early on that I was connecting with the younger kids. I felt like it was my calling.”
Now, his son has had the opportunity to help the Bridgewater program, and has done just that. Father and son have been playing lacrosse together since Ryan Hollingsworth was in first grade.
“He was the first one to put a stick in my hand,” Ryan Hollingsworth said. “He was my first coach and also my middle school coach. He’s always been there for me whether it was on or off the field. I can always ask him for advice as a father and then he’ll always help me with my lacrosse game too.”
Ryan Hollingsworth was only the second junior in Bridgewater's history to be named as an All-American. It was also the first time a father and son were both All-Americans for Bridgewater, an accomplishment that they are both truly proud of.
“It’s very cool I think because not many people have the opportunity to say that they accomplished this,” Ryan Hollingsworth said. “My dad might have been happier than I was about this, but it is a very special accomplishment.”
“In coach Apel’s office, there’s a list of all the All-Americans on the wall,” MG Hollingsworth said. “I’m on that list and I always dreamed that Ryan would have the opportunity to join me up there. To actually see his name up there with me and all the great players that have gone through this program its really overwhelming and it really blows my mind.”
After a season like this, it can be tough to follow it up as expectations can sometimes be too high. Ryan Hollingsworth acknowledged that it will be tough for the Panthers to reach the same plateau, but is confident that he and his teammates can do something memorable next season as well.
“I’m just going to do the same thing I did last year and offseason,” he said. “We will have a lot of kids coming back and we want to repeat what we did this year. We want to take one game at a time like we did this year. If we do that, we are confident we can get back to where we were this year.”
MG Hollingsworth understands that his son must stay humble through all of this but is sure that he will have no trouble doing that.
“It’s a fine line being a coach and a dad at the same time,” MG Hollingsworth said. “You have to know when to back off and when to push buttons. Sometimes my criticisms to him he thinks of me as dad, but to his credit he started to understand the difference between dad and coach. He really understands the game and I think he knows he has to be careful in this situation. You have to stay humble to stay on top and I think Ryan gets that.”
Now that this memorable season is over, next year’s Panthers will have the opportunity to add to the already storied legacy. MG Hollingsworth will also have the opportunity to watch his son play in his senior year at Bridgewater before he goes off to Rutgers in the fall of 2012.
“I’m so proud of this team and what they have done,” MG Hollingsworth said. “I’ve coached a lot of these guys since they were in sixth grade and saw them play great competition at a young age. From the start, I thought they could go this far this season and I’ve always believed in them. I’ve always believed in Ryan and I knew [head coach] Chuck [Apel] could take them far. Now we have the opportunity to repeat next season and it's truly exciting.”
- June 21, 2011
Like Father Like Son, Hollingsworth Follows in Dad's Footsteps
Twenty-five years ago, MG Hollingsworth couldn’t have pictured this. Back in 1986, he was just finishing a memorable All-American season of his own at Bridgewater.
Sitting in the stands during last week’s New Jersey Tournament of Champions, Hollingsworth watched the Bridgewater-Raritan boy’s varsity lacrosse team finish a historic season with a 6-5 win over Summit. The Bridgewater alum, and father to Bridgewater’s Ryan Hollingsworth, was so overwhelmed with emotions, he began crying.
After the celebration, the younger Hollingsworth saw his father in the stands and simply told him, “Get it together, Dad.”
“I was balling my eyes out,” MG Hollingsworth said. “For 30 to 45 minutes I was crying, but I didn’t care. It just really blows your mind when you actually see it happen. All of those kids that I’ve coached on that team are like my sons and I’m very attached to all of them.”
It’s hard to blame Hollingsworth for showing his emotions as he’s watched the Panther’s lacrosse program grow from the very start. The team has been a legitimate program in New Jersey for about 30 years, and he has been a major factor in the program’s success as a former player and coach of the youth and middle school teams.
“Bridgewater lacrosse is a huge part of my life,” he said. “I do it as a passion, but it doesn’t seem like a job. I truly enjoy working with kids and I noticed early on that I was connecting with the younger kids. I felt like it was my calling.”
Now, his son has had the opportunity to help the Bridgewater program, and has done just that. Father and son have been playing lacrosse together since Ryan Hollingsworth was in first grade.
“He was the first one to put a stick in my hand,” Ryan Hollingsworth said. “He was my first coach and also my middle school coach. He’s always been there for me whether it was on or off the field. I can always ask him for advice as a father and then he’ll always help me with my lacrosse game too.”
Ryan Hollingsworth was only the second junior in Bridgewater's history to be named as an All-American. It was also the first time a father and son were both All-Americans for Bridgewater, an accomplishment that they are both truly proud of.
“It’s very cool I think because not many people have the opportunity to say that they accomplished this,” Ryan Hollingsworth said. “My dad might have been happier than I was about this, but it is a very special accomplishment.”
“In coach Apel’s office, there’s a list of all the All-Americans on the wall,” MG Hollingsworth said. “I’m on that list and I always dreamed that Ryan would have the opportunity to join me up there. To actually see his name up there with me and all the great players that have gone through this program its really overwhelming and it really blows my mind.”
After a season like this, it can be tough to follow it up as expectations can sometimes be too high. Ryan Hollingsworth acknowledged that it will be tough for the Panthers to reach the same plateau, but is confident that he and his teammates can do something memorable next season as well.
“I’m just going to do the same thing I did last year and offseason,” he said. “We will have a lot of kids coming back and we want to repeat what we did this year. We want to take one game at a time like we did this year. If we do that, we are confident we can get back to where we were this year.”
MG Hollingsworth understands that his son must stay humble through all of this but is sure that he will have no trouble doing that.
“It’s a fine line being a coach and a dad at the same time,” MG Hollingsworth said. “You have to know when to back off and when to push buttons. Sometimes my criticisms to him he thinks of me as dad, but to his credit he started to understand the difference between dad and coach. He really understands the game and I think he knows he has to be careful in this situation. You have to stay humble to stay on top and I think Ryan gets that.”
Now that this memorable season is over, next year’s Panthers will have the opportunity to add to the already storied legacy. MG Hollingsworth will also have the opportunity to watch his son play in his senior year at Bridgewater before he goes off to Rutgers in the fall of 2012.
“I’m so proud of this team and what they have done,” MG Hollingsworth said. “I’ve coached a lot of these guys since they were in sixth grade and saw them play great competition at a young age. From the start, I thought they could go this far this season and I’ve always believed in them. I’ve always believed in Ryan and I knew [head coach] Chuck [Apel] could take them far. Now we have the opportunity to repeat next season and it's truly exciting.”
