With the death on May 22, 2010 of Charlie Guy, Jr, a Tampa, Florida resident since 1955, a national assemblage of his family, friends, former teammates and players, ex-business associates, and community leaders are joining together to seek his induction into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Youth LAX Supporter
Over the years, as Charlie became more and more successful in his business career, which he credited in great part to the sports principles he learned at the Navy Academy and then had applied to his life principles, he then returned again to the passion instilled in him from his UVA lacrosse coaching days by using the fruits of his personal financial successes to support the development of new young lacrosse players. Naturally his first and strongest love was for Navy LAX.
Over the years, Charlie increased his annual contributions to the USNA to help support lacrosse, football, and to a lesser degree, wrestling. These financial contributions increased gradually until 2007 when Greg Murphy, USNA ’70, and Brian Lantier, USNA ’65, both Navy LAX Hall of Famers, convinced Charlie to financially support the final build out of the Bilderback-Moore Navy Lacrosse Hall of Fame by making a leadership contribution for the completion of Hall of Players and Coaches Wing. Additionally, Charlie had also decided that upon his death that the largest portion of his estate would also go to the USNA in order to continue for a bit longer his Navy support!
Living in Tampa as his son, Charlie 3, was developing in junior high school (in the 50's there was no Pop Warner football in Tampa) into a pretty good football player, youth lacrosse did not even exist. In his later years, though he was severely challenged by a rapidly deteriorating short term memory loss (He attributed this to the high number of sports related concussions that he had suffered.), Charlie, through a good friend and a great neighbor, finally learned that Tampa finally did in fact have a very successful emerging youth LAX program:
Over the years, I had known personally of Charlie’s lacrosse successes at Navy and his continuing passion for lacrosse, but it was only in 2006 that I realized that no one had ever fully shared with him how our South Tampa youth lacrosse was beginning to grow very rapidly, but desperately needed some additional financial support. When I explained the situation to him, he requested that I prepare a proposal for his financial support. Upon reviewing our proposal, he responded with a six-figure commitment to be paid over a multi-year basis that will now be continued by his family through The Charlie Guy, Jr. LAX Fund.
John Kamen, former Naval Academy LAX player, neighbor, and a board member of South Tampa Sticks.
Upon Charlie’s death in May 2010, his extensive estate planning empowered his family with the ability to continue his desire to see as many young people as possible to experience lacrosse as a vehicle to improve their lives. His son, Charlie 3 (Charles H. Guy, lll) has taken the responsibility to help the family create and guide The Charlie Guy, Jr. LAX Fund.
The primary goal of this Fund will be to provide matching funds in the support of the development of the youth lacrosse primarily in the Tampa Bay area through South Tampa Sticks Youth Lacrosse.
Additionally, selected youth lacrosse projects within other Florida areas served by the US Lacrosse Florida Gulf Coast Chapter may also be considered to receive matching funds.
Finally, the Fund, is also partnering with The Jack Murray Family of Tampa in the support of The Charles Guy, Jr. Dawning of UVA LAX Endowed Scholarship to support the University of Virginia’s lacrosse program.