By the time he was in fifth grade, resident Jordan Krug was involved in several sports, dividing his time between baseball, football and wrestling, but it wasn’t until he witnessed a friend’s lacrosse scrimmage that he knew what his game of choice was going to be.
“Once I saw that, the speed and the physical aspect of lacrosse, it really just caught my eye,” said Krug.
From that moment, he began his single-minded pursuit of the sport, forsaking all others. This decision ended up paying dividends last month when Krug was chosen in the fifth round draft to play the sport he loves professionally with the Philadelphia Wings.
Growing up in the sport, through the years he has honed what he calls the “craft” of the game. Where in other sports an athlete may be able to skate by purely on physicality alone, Krug sees the sport of lacrosse as requiring a little something extra from athletes.
“There’s such a different athleticism needed to play the game,” said Krug. “There are guys who aren’t the fittest, fastest or strongest who have found so much success.”
After playing throughout high school, Krug was offered academic scholarships to play for Cabrini University. Suffering from dyslexia, Krug always had to push himself in school as hard as he did on the field. When he discovered lacrosse, he felt he had found his niche. It was a validating moment when his passion helped get him into a school.
Krug thrived at Cabrini, breaking the all-time points record and setting a record for most games as a starter and minutes on the field. The highlight of his college career came last spring after helping his team make it to the NCAA Division III Lacrosse Championship. They ended up beating Amherst College, 16-12, at Lincoln Financial Field and taking home the title.
“The whole month of May 2019 was probably one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in my entire life,” said Krug.
When he wasn’t actively playing himself, Krug kept busy coaching for the Tribal Lacrosse Club of South Jersey in Marlton and providing some one-on-one instruction to young players as well. He has made it part of his mission to spread his favorite sport throughout Marlton and the wider South Jersey area.
Although he counts his championship victory last spring as one of the best experiences of his life, being drafted by the Philadelphia Wings on Sept. 17 has set a new bar for Krug.
“I’ve lived in Marlton my entire life only 20-30 minutes from the city of Philadelphia. I’ve always been a Birds fan, a Sixers fan, so now to be able to say I’m alongside those guys as a Philadelphia professional athlete, it’s surreal,” said Krug.
Training camp begins Nov. 1, and the Wings’ first game of the season will be against the Georgia Swarm on Dec. 14. Their first home game will be against the Vancouver Warriors on Jan. 10 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
