September 1, 2023. The day it was all for. The day it would all finally pay off.

When Flynn Leonard ‘25 was five years old, his dad, Mike Leonard, gave him a lacrosse stick, hoping to pass down his love of the sport. Lacrosse would later become Leonard’s whole life.

“From his very early days, Flynn always had a lacrosse stick in his hand, just playing as a little boy,” Mike said. Having played in college, Mike coached Leonard from third to eighth grade. That was when Leonard’s talent really started to take off.

Beginning in eighth grade, Leonard played more club lacrosse out of Denver. He worked with high-level coaches and athletes, and soon his list of accomplishments was growing to impressive heights. By now, he’s played for 3D Colorado, Boulder Valley, Scorpions, Denver Elite, Nation’s Best, Legends National, and 3D National.

But none of it has come easily.

“It’s literally my whole life. Everything revolves around it, whether I’m working out or training,” Leonard said. “I put almost five hours a day into lacrosse.”

Mike has watched Leonard put more and more time and effort into his passion. “A lot of times it becomes more of a burden,” Mike said. “You make a lot a lot of sacrifices when you get into high school.”

Despite the cost, these sacrifices all go toward one goal. For a high-achieving athlete like Leonard, committing to the right college or university is vital for his next phase of life. That’s why the process took so much preparation—and why it mattered so much.

“For lacrosse, you can start getting recruited and start talking to coaches September 1 of your junior year,” Leonard said. “So it felt like my whole life led up to September 1.”
That day and the following weeks were a whirlwind.

“I was just constantly talking to coaches, constantly calling them, trying to get a feel for which school I might want to go to,” Leonard said. “And then the next week, I went on visits and it all led up to that moment.”

“It was a lot of uncertainty,” he said. “Is any of this training going to pay off?”
Throughout the whole process, Mike knew all of Leonard’s hard work wouldn’t go to waste. “I believed 100%,” Mike said. “I believed in that kid, even when he didn’t believe in himself.”

And Mike was right. All the hours of training, practice, and travel proved worthwhile when Leonard’s college search turned out to be less of a search and more of a selection.

“I had offers from Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth. I got looks from Brown,” Leonard said. “Then I had offers from North Carolina, Penn State Lehigh, and a few other D1 schools.”

Now that his options were clear, Leonard had to make the complicated decision about where to spend the next four years of his life.

There was one school that stood out from the beginning. Many Monarch students might remember Sam Riecken ‘22, who went straight from Monarch to Yale University—also for lacrosse.

Having played with Riecken his freshman year, Leonard knew Yale would be high on his list. But to see for himself, Leonard went to visit the prestigious university.

“I talked to the players and they said they wouldn’t want to play for any other coach,” Leonard said. “And when I toured there, I got to hang out with the team for two days, and it was the best days of my life.”

Only a few weeks into September, Leonard finalized his decision.

He chose Yale.

It will be another two years before his time at Yale begins, but he’s excited to play on the team he connected with and to reunite with a Monarch alumnus.

“Flynn’s very first freshman fall ball practice was with Sam,” Mike said. “And Flynn’s gonna go have his very first fall ball practice at Yale with Sam too.”

But between now and the fall of 2025, there’s still more Leonard has to do to prepare for Yale.

“I thought I could calm down in school, I could kind of coast the rest of the years,” Leonard said. “But actually, now I have to take more advanced classes and I have to train more.”

On top of an intense academic and training plan, Leonard also has to take special care not to get injured. Although it has always been a concern, staying healthy is especially important now.

“Now it means a lot more,” Leonard said. “I could lose the opportunity to play at Yale if I get injured.”

His commitment was a major checkpoint in the process, but it’s not over yet. “I’ve committed to the admissions process at Yale, but I still have to technically get in. I won’t know for another year and a half,” Leonard said.

Besides the technical factors, there’s a lot of mental preparation necessary to attend an Ivy League school.

“It takes a lot of sacrifice and discipline to balance a university like that,” Mike said. “I have every confidence in the world that Flynn is gonna be able to do that because I’ve watched him balance it. I’ve watched him work and prioritize the right things in his life.”“My hope is that Flynn continues to support, to grow, and to inspire others around him.”