Despite a learning disability and not picking up a lacrosse stick until high school, Nick Borodiak is able to take his game all the way to University of Tampa

During a complicated birth, Nick Borodiak’s skull was fractured and he developed bleeding inside his head.  Nick spent the first 45 days of life in the critical care unit and the doctors informed his parents that he would most likely be deaf, have a speech impairment, or a severe learning disability. It would be several years before his challenges began to reveal themselves. “I remember as a young kid that I wasn’t learning like the rest of the kids in my class. By the time I was eight, I was diagnosed with multiple writing and processing disabilities,” he told us.

While difficulties in the classroom made life more difficult, he found his home on the athletic fields.  “Sports was never a issue. I have a learning disability not a physical disability. Sports was actually a way for me to overcome my issues at school and show my friends that I’m just as normal as them. All I cared about was being one of the best athletes on my teams so all that school stuff would kind of go away.” He excelled on the football field for the Parkland Rangers Pop Warner team.  He played quarterback, defensive back, and kicker.  In the 7th grade he quarterbacked the Rangers to the South Florida and Treasure Coast Championships and had another great year as an 8th grader playing for Coach Yovino, the father of St. Thomas All American, Louie Yovino.  “He put a lot of faith in me to play QB. I was pretty small and skinny then and didn’t really shoot up until this past year.”  St. Thomas Head Coach Terry Crowley also spotted his athleticism and put a lacrosse stick in his hand, convincing the rising freshman that he should give lacrosse a try. So he tried lacrosse for the first time the summer before his 9th grade year. “My friend and teammate Louie Yovino gave me all his gear. I still, to this day, wear the same shoulder pads.” He continued as a two sport athlete through the end of his sophomore year but then decided to shift all of his focus to lacrosse.  He chose to meet the challenge of learning a new sport head on.  “I put so much work into lacrosse because it was the only sport I never played. It wasn’t fun not being one of the top players in your sport so I decided at that point that I was going to continue to focus on lacrosse full time.” As he continued to overcome his challenges in the classroom and on the playing field he drew inspiration from another St. Thomas Aquinas athlete who faced similar hurdles. “Chris (Selva) was a parkland kid. I never played youth lacrosse but I always heard about this kid named ‘piglet’. That was his nickname. He is and should be an inspiration to all of us. My mom spoke to Mrs. Selva the start of my freshman year about our similar learning disabilities. He transferred to St. Thomas Aquinas because they had programs and classes there that can help us. He went on to be an All American, and earned the opportunity to play D1 lacrosse at Hofstra. Chris overcame all his adversities to become great lacrosse player and just graduated this spring. My goal is to follow Chris’s path but create my own journey. If you work hard and not be scared of challenges that are in front of you then you will be successful.” Inspiration and determination are great, but with a late start to the game Nick knew he also needed additional training.  “My dad asked Coach Crowley who could train me and develop me into a good lacrosse player. He said Coach Shanahan. That fall, he came to St. Thomas to be an assistant head coach. I will never forget that I threw up on my very first practice. I said ‘oh boy, this isn’t going to be easy.” “Being trained by the first Tewaaraton Award winner, which is the Heisman trophy of college lacrosse, MVP of team USA , and a 3 time All American in football and lacrosse at Hofstra is an honor. He was always patient with me but tough on me at the same time. Here I am 2 years later as a completely different lacrosse player. He isn’t just my Coach but like a big brother to me. I always could lean on him for help and advice. He is like one of the guys and is as competitive as you can be. He hates to lose at anything. How do you not respect that kind of guy? Coach Shanahan made me into the lacrosse player I am today but I still have plenty left in the tank and I want to make him, my coaches and especially my teammates proud.” Nick’s late start to the sport meant he also had a late start on the recruiting process.  He didn’t even go to his first recruiting showcase until fall of his junior year.  But his natural athletisim made an immediate impression and he started getting some traction.  Then he went to Nexstar and things started to click.  That is where he met University of Tampa’s Coach Panos.  “Nexstar is a fairly new showcase in South Florida. What’s great about Nexstar is it’s local and D1, D2 and D3 coach’s were in attendance. That was really the first interaction I had with Coach Panos at University of Tampa so I would say going to Nexstar was important. I recommend that if a lacrosse player goes to showcases in the fall, Nexstar is a great showcase  to show your talents here in Florida. You get a few under your belt and then you can go and really showcase yourself in January right before the season starts. If I didn’t go to Nexstar, University of Tampa probably wouldn’t have been in the mix.” Nick had visits with other schools over the summer but he had to find a school that could fit his specific learning needs.  “University of Tampa has a great LD Center with programs that will help me get through college. But the main reason I chose Tampa was because of the interaction I had with Coach Panos and Coach Whipple over the last 7 months. They were very understanding of my LD issues and made me feel really wanted as a lacrosse player for sometime.” After a rough start in life and a late start to the sport, it all turned out to be pretty simple after all.  “To have the opportunity to go to a school that can offer me a great education, an athletic scholarship, and a chance to win National Championships year after year with coaches that believe in my lacrosse talents was the deciding factor for me. I’m looking forward to being a Spartan in 2016!”