This article appears in the January 2021 edition of US Lacrosse Magazine, an exclusive perk for US Lacrosse members. Don't get the mag? Become a member today.

As we welcome the promise of 2021, we’ll likely face the extended disruption of sport in the months to come. But hope is starting to transform into building confidence that the new year will bring relief and increasing distance from the most disruptive period in recent history.

Each New Year’s Eve afternoon, my wife gathers together — virtually, this time — close friends and family members to reveal the outcomes of personal resolutions made the previous year and invites the confidential writing of resolutions for the year to come. The sense of renewal and empowerment that the turn of a year brings can be both powerful and transformative.

While it’s not an exercise in which I typically participate, there are two resolutions for the new year that I hope we can all consider on behalf of lacrosse.

The first has to do with the spirit of collaboration and partnership within the sport. Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball and a lacrosse player, was said to have referred to the sport as “the best of all possible field games.” Few lacrosse enthusiasts today would argue against his point, and most would likely consider lacrosse to be the ultimate team sport.

Perhaps that’s true within the field of play, but too often competing interests among individuals, organizations and constituencies off the field conspire to limit the sport’s growth, appeal and accessibility.

Here’s hoping the new year brings greater enlightenment and perspective to offset the parochialism and ego that have fragmented our sport for far too long.

A second resolution for 2021 would be for each of us to double down on efforts to increase access to the sport and establish a culture that is truly welcoming to every family. Do we have the will to extend the year of social justice awakening into an era of opportunity for our sport? 

It will be easy for some to get bogged down in the “how” and “who,” but our sport will linger in relative obscurity unless we embrace the sport’s Native American history and ideals and commit to be the change required to assure that every child feels like they belong in our sport. Only then will lacrosse achieve its true potential.

May we all be proud of the progress made in 12 months’ time.