Lacrosse life has NLLers balancing day jobs and professional sports

Most professional athletes make hundreds of thousands of dollars playing their sports but that's not the case for players in the National Lacrosse League.

The majority of professional lacrosse players have other jobs they work during the week, with weekends from December until May reserved for competition.

Balancing work and lacrosse can be a lot to handle for these athletes doing double duty.

"It can be a grind," says Halifax Thunderbirds forward Austin Shanks.

When he's not scoring goals, Shanks is busy putting out fires. He joined the Toronto Fire Service in July.

"When I'm at fire, it's full fire," said Shanks. "Once I get home, it's back to lacrosse, watching film, getting ready for practice and going to the gym."

Shanks missed the preseason while completing his training at the fire academy and had to miss his team's last game in New York while working a weekend shift.

Firefighting comes first right now.

"It's tough being away from the team when I have fire or being away from fire when I have lacrosse because I feel like they are both my team," said Shanks.

Austin Shanks is pictured in his Toronto Fire Service dress uniform. When Shanks isn't playing with the Halifax Thunderbirds he works as a firefighter. (Courtesy: Ryan Shanks)

Thunderbirds head coach Mike Accursi knows what it's like to juggle two professions. He's a teacher in Ontario and played 17 seasons in the National Lacrosse League.

It's a lot of trains, planes and automobiles," said Accursi. "You teach until Friday then you fly somewhere, then you get back on home Sunday and then it's back to work. It's a seven-day-a-week kind of grind but if you ask anybody, nobody would change anything about it."

Luke Magnan is a rugged defender on the floor and during the week, he's in the classroom teaching high school at The Hill Academy, an independent high school that specializes in lacrosse and hockey development.

"There are some days that are tougher than others," said Magnan. "But everybody is going through it.”

The average salary in the NLL is around US$25,000, and the majority of players have other jobs.

"I'd say there's very few that do it full time. And if they do it full-time, they are probably working for the team," said Accursi.

One thing all these players have in common is a shared passion for the game.

"I love to teach and I love teaching at The Hill but being able to play, I want to do it for as long as I can," said Magnan.