Airing in the Sunday, Aug. 30, editions of SportsCenter, ESPN's SC Featured examines the story of Braeden Lange, his relationship with former Dartmouth goalie Andrew Goldstein and the Courage Game.

IL columnist Peter Lasagna attended the Courage Game. Read his account of Lange's story below.

Andrew and Braeden playing lacrosse in Central Park. (Photo Courtesy of Andrew Goldstein)

Scott and Mandy Lange knew their bedside table did not contain the playbook for this Feb. 8 late night talk. Their 12-year old son Braeden had come out as gay to his best friend via social media. Braeden knew his parents would see. They walked down the hall to tell him they were there for him.

Dad, a West Chester University graduate, felt this unplanned conversation went fairly positively. Afterward, his Google search indicated otherwise. “It turns out,” Scott recalls with self-deprecating humor, “that I pretty much nailed the top four ‘Questions not to ask your child who comes out.’”

Was he sure? Was he old enough to know this for certain? Didn’t he have a girlfriend? Could this be about something else? Was this a phase?

His parents, 14-year old brother, 10- and 7-year old sisters would offer Braeden as much love, support and normalcy as always. Eldest Blake quipped, “What do you mean? He’s still stupid and aggravating. So what?”

But his accepting family could not protect Braeden from hurtful posts of peers that quickly popped up on web sites. Scott recalls the initial, 140-question long anonymous thread that Braeden shared with his parents. “The first few questions were not surprising for 12-year olds dealing with this revelation, but the majority were really tough. There were positive statements but many more were not.”

Their Downingtown, Pa., suburbs are enjoying an amazing population boom. This rapid growth necessitated construction of a new school building that accommodates 1,100 sixth graders. Word travels fast, without filters, in such a setting.

Scott and Mandy could not console their son, and Braeden had very few people he felt comfortable turning to outside of his home. He thought he couldn’t trust anyone, even worried that teammates were likely behind some of the nasty Internet chatter. He cried every morning at the prospect of facing classmates, best lacrosse buddies that had changed their opinion of him overnight.

Scott describes that first month as “very dark.” Braeden shut down. He pushed friends away and craved only “to be normal.” Most frightening to his folks, Braeden talked about “just wanting to go away.”

Mandy reminded her husband about Andrew Goldstein. Goldstein is the two-time All-America goalie from Dartmouth who scored a memorable goal vs. Syracuse in the 2003 NCAA Tournament. He is also the first American professional athlete (Long Island Lizards) to come out during his playing career and a happily married Ph.D. microbiologist at UCLA.

Six hours after hearing from a desperate Scott, Goldstein sent an uplifting video. In it, he calls Braeden, “The bravest kid I’ve ever heard of.” Goldstein then mailed his Lizards helmet to Braeden.

His father saw light blaze back into his boy’s eyes. His son did not cry that night.

Andrew spent FaceTime hours with both parents and Braeden. He held the boy “accountable,” relates Scott, in crucial ways. He encouraged Braeden to let his friends back in his life. “It took you a year to make this decision,” he counseled. “You want them to be OK with it immediately. You have to give them time.”

Goldstein, Nick Welton, the You Can Play folks, LaxAllStars.com and other allies rallied to create the Courage Game. On the Sunday of Championship Weekend at Penn’s Ace Adams Field, 50 youth and 30 adult players from Philadelphia and beyond, with hundreds of enthusiastic fans, came to support Braeden, stand for inclusion, against bullying and demonstrate that all are welcome in The Creator’s Game.

One of the most impressive spokesmen of the day was 11-year old Dylan McMahon. Dylan “plays up” on Braeden’s team and attends a different school. He was an “outside” friend Braeden trusted throughout the hardest times, one of the few. Dylan’s dad Scott, a former Terp, coaches with Scott Lange.

Dylan looked straight into the ESPN camera and calmly articulated the empathy and caring thoughtfulness of someone five times his age. “He’s just my friend and a really good lacrosse player,” Dylan explained. “He’s a great friend because he always speaks his mind. He’s never afraid to express his opinion, even when it’s hard.”

Andrew Goldstein commented on the natural shift forward for the kids on the field. “These players will use less homophobic language, call something derogatorily ‘gay’ less because of playing here today. They will think more before bullying people because of Braeden.”

Opportunities to watch literal, generational change happen before one’s eyes do not come often. Dom Starsia, son Joe and his son Dom, wives Krissy and Pam witnessed. US Lacrosse’s Steve Stenersen, Nike’s Bill Daye did as well. To behold so many brought together in the name of respecting all people revealed the best of lacrosse.

There were likely more straight than gay players out on the field. Nobody thought about — or cared — who the person passing them the ball loved. They just wanted an accurate feed when they were open!

Braeden’s father describes his “most touching” moment of the Courage Game. A 65-year old man asks a friend of Scott’s to play catch. He explains that he walked away from the game in 1980, shortly after coming out. He was afraid he would not be accepted.

Until today.

“I had tears in my eyes when I saw him ask Braeden for his autograph,” the father says.

The Langes credit Goldstein for saving their son’s life. “He went from a kid who cried every night to a kid who is back. He’s more thoughtful, more confident, relaxed. We have Andrew and the lacrosse community to thank for that.”

Braeden wants to impress his new mentor today. The talented, lefty attackman holds high standards. He hits one but not his usual, multiple goals. “I didn’t play my best, but I had so much fun,” Braeden says afterward. Perhaps most importantly, for Braeden’s future happiness and his parents’ grateful hearts, their smiling boy states, “Everyone knows who I am and that feels really good.”

It is clear that this brave 12-year old has saved lives, as well.

Peter Lasagna's column appears in the July issue of Inside Lacrosse, featuring the Denver Pioneers on the cover. It is available for purchase here.

This story was originally posted on InsideLacrosse.com on June 23.

Peter Lasagna is the head coach at Bates College. The ’94 Coach of the Year at Brown and ’15, ’13 and ’05 NESCAC Coach of the Year at Bates, he’s a member of the Greater Rochester Lacrosse Hall of Fame.