Chris Theofield owes his athletic career to his four older brothers. When he was 3 years old, they cut down a larger stick and made him his own.

Anytime there was a lacrosse game at Northport High School, Theofield would be there watching, or even assisting as a water boy. With his brothers Bobby, Kevin, Vinny and Michael all playing the game, it wasn't a shock that Chris would follow suit.

"The experience I had playing with them gave me an edge," he says. "That made me a better player and a better person. I didn't want to let those guys down."

He made Bob Macaluso's varsity team as a 10th grader and started every game of his high school career for the next three seasons. He recalls beating Sachem during his senior year, 8-6, and recording a few points in the contest. It was a regular win, but meant a lot because Sachem was a dynasty then. He also is fond of beating Smithtown East, who was a dominant team at that time.

Theofield finished his career with 130 goals and 71 assists and is the fourth all-time leading scorer in Northport history. He was awarded the Ray Enners Award in 1991 as Suffolk County's top player.

"It's an award that not only encompasses someone that's a good lacrosse player, but other things as well," he says. "My mom taught me the right way to be in life and my dad, too. When they told me I won it, I was stunned. It is something that I do this day; being a good person is how you should live your life everyday. There were lot of other people who were deserving, but I was very fortunate."

He spent a year off from school after his Northport days then enrolled at Herkimer County Community College in Upstate, NY, where he played for coach Paul Wherum and won two National Junior College Championships.

"We went up there as boys and came out as men," he says. "I started out at the bottom rung and worked my butt off. I'm from the old school mentality. He told me he'd send me back to Long Island and got in my face."

Theofield was a feeder more than a scorer in college. He says he liked to create plays and distribute the ball. During his sophomore season he was a First Team All-America selection and MVP of the national title game.

He played his junior year on Long Island at Stony Brook University, which was a major difference compared to the 2,500 kids at Herkimer. Theofield says he may have made a different choice if he could do it all over again, because his family served as a distracted - not that that was a bad thing, he said, but it aided to his downfall in the classroom. That was his last year of collegiate lacrosse, but he finished his education at Stony Brook.

He played for the Suffolk County Lacrosse Club and for a U.S. team at the Australian Nationals in 1996. Today, he is a New York City police officer.