After falling in love with lacrosse in his sophomore year at New Hyde Park Memorial High School, Rob Mirabile knew he wanted to play the sport for his dream college.
Radford University, a school of about 9,000 students in an eponymous Virginia town, didn’t give him an offer to do that, so he spent two years at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.
Mirabile didn’t give up. In 1990, he transferred to Radford and walked on to the Division I lacrosse team.
This fall, he got to see his 18-year-old daughter, Amanda Mirabile, do the same thing.
“This is just an amazing experience for the whole family, it really is,” Rob said.
Rob got Amanda, now a freshman at Radford, into lacrosse at a young age.
She started playing in the Nassau County Police Athletic League when she was in kindergarten, and he was her coach on the New Hyde Park PAL team in the early years.
“As soon as I could have a stick in my hand, my dad put one in my hand,” Amanda said.
She went on to play for the Mineola and Franklin Square PAL teams, and eventually joined the Turf Island Oilers travel team when she wanted tougher competition.
She played on New Hyde Park Memorial’s varsity team under coach and guidance counselor Michelle Kitson, who became her mentor and one of her biggest supporters.
When the time came to choose a college, Amanda said, Kitson was her “foundation on and off the field.”
“She told me to visit the other schools and at least explore my options” — including a scholarship offer from the Division II lacrosse program at Shorter University in Georgia — “which I did, and I kept falling back to Radford,” Amanda said.
Radford’s coaches had seen her play, but had not given her an offer. Amanda knew she wanted to play lacrosse in college, so she moved in thinking she would try to get on the team and see what happened.
Not much later, the head coach emailed her and asked if she wanted to try out for one of three open spots on the team. After working out and practicing with the other players, she was selected from a field of nine walk-ons.
“It was definitely tough to get into the team and play at a Division I level, but it’s definitely something that I’m ready to work on and challenge myself for it,” she said.
Amanda said it means a lot to her to follow in her father’s footsteps, which she has done in several ways.
Like her father, a retired police officer who serves as chief of the Garden City Park Fire Department, Amanda is a volunteer firefighter.
Her father’s law enforcement background also inspired her to study criminal justice at Radford, she said.
“He has never let me give up,” Amanda said. “He’s pushed me through my hardships to play.”
Having coached her for many years and seen her grow up with lacrosse, Rob said he knew Amanda was a tough player who had what it takes to achieve her goals.
When Rob tells Amanda’s story to his current PAL team — which she has helped coach since age 13 — he said he can tell it motivates the players to succeed like she has.
“It’s about dedication, commitment, discipline and hard work, and she really did do it all, and it makes me proud to be able to show the other kids the example that she set,” he said.
