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The fluency of Eddy Glazener
By Lauren Merola | Jul 27, 2022
Before Eddy Glazener hits the field as the Redwoodsâ air traffic controller, he practices quick decision-making in the locker room.
Particularly, on the aux.
Eddy is in charge of the pre-game music selection, usually pulling from his âFemale Vocalsâ playlist. More often than not, the first song on the playlist, âIronicâ by Alanis Morissette, is the first song he plays.
Eddyâs music taste is extensive. Heâs also compiled a âTeenage Angstâ playlist with plenty of songs from The All-American Rejects. He has more traditional hype songs â in the rap and techno genres â queued up if need be.
Whatever mood heâs in, thereâs a playlist for it.
âHe probably shouldâve been the DJ at his own wedding,â Redwoods coach Nat St. Laurent said.
Music is like a second â or third â language to Eddy, whoâs fluent in English and Spanish. He attended a Spanish-immersion elementary school in La Jolla, Calif. before he moved nearly 1,500 miles away to San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato, Mexico for fifth and sixth grade with his younger brother Davis Glazener.
Eddyâs dad Chris Glazener is a practicing anesthesiologist in San Diego. He attended medical school in Mexico City, where he said he was the only American student and had to learn Spanish quickly. He wanted his children to do the same.
âI use Spanish every single day with my patients,â Chris Glazener said. âThe boys know songs, the Pledge of Allegiance in English and Spanish, the Mexican Pledge of Allegiance and the Mexican national anthem. They know both cultures well.â
In April 2022, Eddy, Chris Glazener and Davis Glazener showed family and friends just how well that is. At Eddyâs wedding rehearsal in Naples, Fla., the three of them â alongside a mariachi band that traveled west from Miami â sang âEl Reyâ by Jose Alfredo Jimenez.
According to Redwoods attacker Matt Kavanagh, âEddyâs got pipes.â
âHaving lived in another country and picking up the language and culture, Iâve come to appreciate other people from different backgrounds,â Eddy said. âYou get thrust into a position you may be uncomfortable in, but you have the option to either clam up or embrace it. I learned how to adjust on the fly⌠I can translate it to lacrosse or work: things arenât always going to go as planned.â
By the time his 12th birthday rolled around, Eddy had not only assimilated but flourished in his new home.
![Eddy Eddy Glazener (bottom right) at his 12th birthday party in class in San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato, Mexico.](https://premierlacrosseleague.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Eddy-1024x769.png)
âHe was the only non-Spanish speaking student in that class. Itâs the same smile he always has. You can see those kids are having fun with him,â St. Laurent said. âHe finds a way to communicate, fit in and at the end of the day, heâs a respectful person so people tend to respect him back.â
Whether itâs words, gestures or text messages, Eddy, whoâs ânot a fan of silence,â finds a way to bring the noise.
Like Spanish, the 6â4â, 220-pound defender just as easily understands lacrosse. On the turf, Eddy is always directing cutters, communicating bumps and talking his defense through the set.
âHeâs constantly taking a cerebral approach for us where he understands the whole picture and the importance of the little things: getting in, communicating, hustling back on defense, what kind of shots the goalie wants to see,â St. Laurent said. âThose are some things that make him special as a player.â
Eddy Glazener is the @PLLRedwoods air traffic controller down low.
— Lauren Merola (@laurmerola) July 27, 2022
âHeâs probably one of the best communicators on the field,â Nat St. Laurent said. âI have so much trust in him as a head coach.â pic.twitter.com/GwwQwJHlH0
Eddy said he tries to flirt with the line of being assertive and annoying. The self-proclaimed âAux Godâ said heâs the loudest when the team is calm and under control, so the defense still feels a sense of urgency.
âI honestly yell more when things are laid back, making sure weâre dialed in so weâre not giving up goals,â he said. âIf you have that aggressiveness and annoyingness, to a certain extent, other people will react quickly and pay attention.â
Kavanagh said during games, he can hear Eddy from the other end of the field.
âI think everyone in the stadium can hear him,â Kavanagh said. âI think heâs the only off-ball defender that the PLL likes to mic up because itâs pretty entertaining how much he talks. Heâs a prime example of a defenseman, what they should be thinking about and what they should be talking about on the field.â
Defense is all about communication.
— Premier Lacrosse League (@PremierLacrosse) August 25, 2019
So we mic'd up Eddy Glazener, the leader of the Redwoods defense.
đď¸Listen in @justglaze pic.twitter.com/KGbYzPbfHU
Eddy and St. Laurent have been together on the Redwoods since the Premier Lacrosse Leagueâs inaugural season in 2019. Together, with Garrett Epple â who Eddy calls the Redwoodsâ âbest cover guyâ â and former standout defender Matt Landis, they built the foundation down low.
With it came a friendship that transcends the coach-player relationship, but a respect that emulates it. There have been times St. Laurent asked Eddy to cover a specific player, like Chaos attacker Josh Byrne, while continuing to be the vocal leader heâs developed into. While Eddy always agreed to do it, he doesnât shy away from airing out his doubts.
âIn our first year, I wanted him to cover somebody, and he said, âCoach, Iâll do it if you want me to, but I think we might be better off as a unit if you had this person cover that player,ââ St. Laurent said. âThatâs when I realized Eddy Glazener doesnât have an ego.â
Eddy said most of the time, he thinks St. Laurent is right.
âIâm the player and heâs the coach,â Eddy said. âWeâre going with his game plan, but he will hear me out.â
Isnât it ironicâŚ
For someone who loves to talk â and sing â Eddy certainly knows when to be quiet. During games, when the clock stops and the team huddles, the 28-year-old stands silent.
âEveryone has been playing for a long time. Itâs very easy for you, in the huddle, to have a different opinion,â Eddy said. âI feel like it comes off wrong when older players try to take over and coach, so I try as much as I can, getting older, to not have as much of an input at all and put it in the coachâs hands.â
Donât you think?
Back on the field, Eddy is only concerned with conversing with his teammates.
âGlaze is strictly business. He is not a smack talker,â Redwoods defensive coordinator Chris Collins said. âHeâs business as usual, but donât get me wrong, heâll keep receipts.â
Heâll even keep tabs on St. Laurent, because while older and mature, Eddy wonât miss an opportunity to chirp at one of his own.Â
During the PLL Draft on ESPN on May 10, 2022, St. Laurent posted to the Redwoodsâ Instagram story a photo of him throwing up the peace sign on set. Eddy screenshotted the photo and sent it to St. Laurent, saying heâs going to have to fine the coach for this behavior.
![Nat St. Laurent on the set of ESPN for the PLL Draft on May 10, 2022.](https://premierlacrosseleague.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Nat-175x300.jpg)
âThat was a good, early morning text that got me laughing pretty hard,â St. Laurent said.
Eddy and St. Laurent communicate over the phone regularly. Eddy tends to wake St. Laurent up with witty texts â like, âWhatâs up, sleepy?â or âThe team weâre playing is still sleeping!â â or photos of him working out before 6 a.m.
Itâs this work ethic that so easily allowed Kavanagh to stick his neck out.
After Eddy and Kavanagh graduated from Notre Dame in 2016, Kavanagh joined the Denver Outlaws of Major League Lacrosse and Eddy went undrafted. One year later, the Outlaws had holes to patch up on defense, and Kavanagh connected Eddy to Outlaws general manager Tony Seaman.
In 2017, after a tryout and training camp, Seaman added Eddyâs name to the roster.
âGoing to bat for him, if heâs given the opportunity, you know heâs not going to give it a half effort,â Kavanagh said. âHeâs going to give it everything he has. Itâs really easy reaching out to a coach and saying you got a guy whoâs ready to work for a spot.â
And if he canât work through it, heâll talk through it.