Portsmouth’s Groleau found way to give after boys lacrosse season was canceled

Like many seniors across the state, the cancellation of the high school spring sports season was devastating for Ryan Groleau.

But without any games to play and practices to attend, Groleau thought of another way he could fill his free time.

When he was a sophomore, Groleau and his Portsmouth High School boys lacrosse teammates volunteered at Gather, a food bank in Portsmouth that was founded in 1816. Every spring, Clippers coach Chad Vischer gives the team two community service projects, with the requirement that they have to do at least one.

“About 75 percent do both,” Vischer said. “We went there and a couple of the guys like it. They did great. A lot of it was just moving inventory, but the boys were perfect for it.”

The Clippers volunteered at Gather in 2018 and 2019, and when Groleau got on the executive board for the school’s National Honor Society, he was responsible for finding community service activities for fellow members. He started getting groups of students together to volunteer at Gather, but when schools in New Hampshire went to remote learning in March, they were unable to continue.

“I continued to go at least once a week,” Groleau said. “It’s super fun as well as beneficial. The people there are great. The reward is nice, knowing they need people more than ever. Being there for them is something they appreciate.”

Groleau has done everything, from packing lunches for kids to helping people who come into the pantry’s market to packing trucks and delivering.

It’s not something that surprised Vischer when he heard what Groleau was doing in his free time.

“It’s cool to see him do well over there,” Vischer said. “He was voted a captain (for 2020). People respected him and he has very high academics. He had a big role.

“He was somebody I leaned on for communication (in the offseason), rounding up the troops. He was working out all winter long. He was that kind of guy all the time.”

Groleau first got into the varsity lineup as a freshman, filling in when Portsmouth was battling injuries, and contributed in ways that would always surprise Vischer at the end of a game.

“He’s not a large kid and he’s sneaky good,” the coach said. “At the end of the day, you’d look at the stat sheet, he’d get five points. He would have surprisingly put up 30 (goals) and 30 (assists). He would have had a good year this year.”

As would the team, according to Groleau.

“We had 12 seniors,” he said. “The majority of those guys have been playing together since first grade. It was going to be a huge year. We had a lot of great guys, a lot of great leadership.”

For a lot of the seniors, it never seemed like the season would get canceled until it actually did. Without being able to play his final year of high school, Groleau found a way to continue playing lacrosse in college.

He plans to keep playing next year at Rhodes College, a Division III in Memphis, Tenn., a decision that turned out be influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was definitely a last-minute decision,” Groleau said. “I was down to that and a couple of other schools where I wouldn’t be able to play. Not being able to play this season opened my eyes that I wanted to play and I’m glad I made that decision.”

Before he heads off to college, Groleau has tried to help Vischer get the Clippers who will be returning next season ready to not only return to the field, but take on the leadership roles that this year’s senior class didn’t get to fulfill.

“More recently, we’ve tried to start throwing the ball around with some juniors and sophomores,” Groleau said. “I think they’ll do well on their own.”