The Sweetlax Story

What is unique to The Sweetlax Story is that Kevin Martin, Founder and Recruitment Director has not only assisted hundreds of families with college placement, but has also gone through the process himself while being the legal guardian to Hakeem Lecky.

While mentoring Hakeem, Kevin saw the power of dreams in action. He saw the way Hakeem’s dreams of playing NCAA lacrosse had a positive impact on his social, intellectual and athletic development. This inspired Kevin to found Sweetlax and use it as a vehicle to help talented student-athletes realize their dreams of playing college lacrosse.

Kevin was cutting his teeth as a young high school lacrosse coach in Nantucket, MA, when he first met Hakeem Lecky and introduced him to the game. Hakeem, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and migrated to the states at a young age; Kevin began to mentor and coach him at age 13, and ultimately became Hakeem’s legal guardian.

Kevin and Hakeem moved to Duxbury, MA, where Hakeem started to get his first taste of highly competitive lacrosse. He was athletic, but his skills were raw, and he was cut at his first club team tryout. He had to spend time on the JV team at Duxbury HS before working his way up to varsity. Meanwhile, as Kevin coached and mentored Hakeem at Duxbury, he was also being shaped and molded himself, by Chris Sweet (Duxbury HS Head Coach). Chris Sweet played an important role in Kevin’s development as coach and Sweetlax would ultimately be named in his honor.

Kevin and Hakeem had a shared dream to see lacrosse serve as a launching pad of opportunity for Hakeem’s future, and they kept working hard throughout the challenges and struggles they faced.The following year Hakeem excelled in the classroom, made the club team that cut him and broke out as a rising star on the varsity team at Duxbury. He quickly became one of the most sought after recruits in the country. College Coaches began to call Kevin to talk about Hakeem and he was introduced first hand into the NCAA recruiting process. As they began to look at potential schools a two things became clear to Kevin;

• A player’s performance in the classroom is just as important as their performance on the field.
• The recruiting process is different for everyone and the decision must come down to finding the right fit for the individual.

Kevin saw the process from beginning to end with Hakeem’s career culminating in being named a two-time captain at Syracuse and multiple All-American honors.  Most importantly, Hakeem received a Degree in Economics and a Masters from Syracuse University.

Five years later, Coach Martin has been associated with helping guide hundreds of parents and players in their college placement at the DI, DII and DIII level. Kevin has followed in the footsteps of his mentor Chris Sweet in creating an environment that not only helps develop the next generation of great players but also helps to shape the next generation of great coaches and leaders.  Some of our proudest moments occur when Sweetlax alumni come back to coach with us while giving back to the next generation of Sweetlax stars. This also provides us additional opportunities to mentor them on their road to success.  *Hakeem is now a part of the Sweetlax Coaching staff, the captain of the Jamaica National Team and a successful Commercial Realtor in Manhattan.