The Toronto Rock's CJ Kirst fondly remembers his backyard lacrosse games against his four siblings growing up. With game time coming after school, the contests were often two players per side; the boys, with no pads and usually no goalies, would roughhouse and run each other over during their matches. Kirst and Connor — the eldest of the five siblings — squared off against Colin and Cole. Caden Kirst, the youngest, would occasionally play goalkeeper.
To start, the siblings would create their own face-offs. They'd place the butt ends of their sticks against the lacrosse ball, step back, then, when the time was right, a four-way battle would commence for possession. "I think that was the first time I realized how much smaller I was than my brothers," Kirst said. "And I think that was the first memory I have of us competing hard."
Quickly, the grass in their childhood home's backyard in Bernardsville, N.J., became mostly mud. "We would put on our gloves and keep each other a little bit safe with the checks and whatnot," Kirst said. "But we'd compete as hard as we could in our backyard." The games wouldn't always end with a winner and a final score – bickering or fights sometimes ended them prematurely.
"It was the way I learned to play the game," Kirst said. "And then to learn from my brothers as we got older – training with them rather than playing against them – has definitely helped a ton."
Those skills were on full display as the Rock clinched their seventh National Lacrosse League championship on Sunday night. Kirst had a goal and an assist as Toronto powered to a 12-7 victory to sweep the best-of-three series against the Halifax Thunderbirds. It was the first Canada-only championship series since 2015.
Kirst and his siblings are the sons of former Division I Rutgers University lacrosse player Kyle Kirst, who passed away at 47. Kirst was 12 at the time. "Having lacrosse in our lives, it's truly a medicine game," Kirst said. "Unfortunately, losing our father at a young age, we kind of leaned on the sport to give us a positive outlook on life."
"To have each other, more importantly, to talk about lacrosse, I kind of live through the game every single time I pick up a stick," Kirst added. "So, the game means a lot. It definitely has a special place in our hearts."
Lacrosse remains embedded in five Kirst's lives. Connor, 28, plays for the National Lacrosse League's Las Vegas Desert Dogs; Colin, 27, plays in the Premier Lacrosse League; the youngest, Caden, is a goalkeeper at Rutgers University. While Cole, 25, is on the Halifax Thunderbirds roster, he's on the hold-out list and hasn't played a game during the 2025-26 season.
CJ Kirst, 23, spent five seasons at Cornell University before joining the NLL. The four-time All-American tied the men's single-season goal record (82) and set the men's all-time NCAA Division I goal-scoring record (247). He earned the Tewaaraton Award in 2025, which recognizes the top college lacrosse players in the U.S. The nod led Cornell to label him as "one of the sport's all-time greats."
Toronto chose the 23-year-old with the first-overall selection in the 2025 NLL draft. Reflecting on the choice months later, Rock head coach Matt Sawyer said Kirst is everything one could ask for as a person. "He brightens up any room he walks into," Sawyer said. "He's a great personality; his teammates love him."
Kirst posted 34 goals and 71 points during his 18-game rookie campaign, a stat sheet that earned him NLL rookie-of-the-year honours and tied teammate Mark Matthews for the team lead in points. He finished with 11 goals and seven assists in six post-season games, a run that included a four-goal haul as the Rock won the NLL final opener 13-11 on Friday. For those that have worked with him throughout his freshman campaign, his quick adaptation to the NLL comes as little shock.
"He's someone who, before he got to us, is quite accomplished in the game of lacrosse," Sawyer said. "Watching him, it's not a surprise how quickly he found success."
