Guilderland senior lacrosse player Cody Futia has a lot on his plate these days.
Futia anchors a young Dutchmen defensive unit while completing his final months of his high school studies and preparing to play for a select American team going to England this summer for an international tournament.
Oh, and he’s a budding entrepreneur. With his father’s help, Futia started Assault Sports Apparel a company inspired by his love of mixed martial arts.
I’m a fan of MMA and UFC (Ultimate Fighting), and I liked the Tapout T-shirts. So I wanted to try to do something like that,` said Futia.
Futia’s product line has attitude literally written all over it. Each T-shirt, hooded sweatshirt and bumper sticker has a saying like, `Attitude: The difference between being good and being great!`
And Futia hasn’t been shy about promoting his product line. He wears his shirts to school, which attracts the attention of his fellow students and teachers.
`People do ask me where I get my T-shirts, and when I tell them it’s my shirt, they don’t believe me,` said Futia. `So, I have to pull out a business card or go to the nearest computer and show them the Web site.`
Getting the product to the masses is a little more difficult for Futia. He only has a limited supply at the moment since the company has only been active for several months.
`We’re just getting the word out now,` said Futia. `We haven’t really had a lot of sales, yet.`
Not that Futia can solely focus on his company these days. He’s trying to help Guilderland repeat as Section II Class A lacrosse champions while imparting his knowledge of the sport to a group of sophomore defensemen.
`He’s worked his tail off to be the best player he can be lacrosse-wise, and he’s got his future on his mind with his company,` said Guilderland coach Sean McConaghy.
What makes Futia a valuable defender is his ability to sense where a play is going before it happens and then break it up.
`There’s this thing I call lax IQ,` said Futia. `I study an opponent and try to figure out what he’s going to do with the ball. There’s one of three things he can do ` shoot it, pass it or drive it. My job is to correctly guess what he’s going to do.`
`To be able to antici-pate two or three plays or passes ahead is a skill he possesses,` said McConaghy. `He obviously learned it from the coaches he worked with when he was younger, and he’s passing that knowledge on to our younger guys.`
Futia doesn’t always guess correctly, which can lead to a goal. But he said he makes certain those times are rare.
`I get really mad when someone I’m guarding scores because it means I’m not doing my job right, so I learn from it and make certain it doesn’t happen again,` Futia said.
Futia also knows he can’t do his job alone. That’s why he’s been working with his younger teammates in practices to get them up to speed.
`Another key component of good defense is trusting who’s on your left and who’s on your right,` said Futia. `I have to trust that if someone gets by me, someone else is there to pick up the slack.`
It’s that balance between his individual skills and his teamwork that has raised Futia’s game to a level few of today’s Section II defenders have reached. He was recruited by several NCAA Division I lacrosse programs before picking the University at Albany, and he was invited to play for the under-19 USA Starz team going to the FIL World Championships July 10-24 at England’s Manchester University.
`It’s the greatest honor I’ve ever received in sports or in my life,` said Futia. `I’ve always loved America, so to get the chance to represent my country overseas is a dream come true.`
While all of this has been going on around Futia, he’s worked hard at maintaining his high academic standards at Guilderland High School, where he’s an honors student.
`My parents and coaches have always told me it’s student first and athlete second, and that’s how I’ve always been,` said Futia.
And though he leads a hectic life between school, lacrosse and his business, Futia said he wouldn’t have it any other way.
`I prefer to have my time full. It just helps me to be organized,` said Futia.“
