This article appears in the Northeast version of the May/June edition of US Lacrosse Magazine. Don’t get the mag? Join US Lacrosse today to start your subscription.

It wasn’t so long ago that Matt Facchine was a fourth-grader just trying out lacrosse.

Now the Delbarton (N.J.) School freshman midfielder is organizing a three-day clinic through his Community Lacrosse organization to introduce others to lacrosse.

“My youth coaches gave me that little bit of encouragement and that spark that made me really play the game and enjoy it,” said Facchine, 15. “If I could do that for a couple kids in the clinic or all of them and give them that spark and really change them, that’s what I want to do.”

Facchine came up with Community Lacrosse (communitylax.org) for his freshman project at Delbarton. It focuses on how lacrosse can develop strong characteristics in youth.

“It isn’t just a game that you throw the ball around and put it in the net,” Facchine said. “It’s a lot more than that. We all learn from doing different things, like in basketball or football. I thought from lacrosse there are three main points you learn from it. It’s not only a game you play for fun or with your friends. It’s something to grow you as a person.”

Community Lacrosse promotes the acronym LAX with L standing for Leadership, A for Academics, and X for eXercise.

“You always want to keep going, keep on pushing yourself and be the leader,” Facchine said. “Be the leader of your own life and go and find the answers. Ask the questions, take your chances, take your opportunities and keep healthy. Keep moving.”

Facchine will explain these ideas to boys grades 4-6 in Dover, N.J., a nearby town that does not have a lacrosse program, over three Mondays from April 30 to May 14. Sessions are free, and he is collecting equipment to be used at the clinic.

“A couple years back, my hometown of Mahwah, they ran this clinic and they brought me in to help coach because it was young kids, like kindergarten,” Facchine said. “It was the most fun I’ve ever had, seeing how much fun they had and their smiles. The only person that had more fun than them was me. Just throwing the ball around with them and showing them what I knew is what made me really enjoy it.

“When I got this opportunity, this platform with the freshman project, I thought,‘This is my chance to bring this to more people — to bring this game that I love and made me the person I am to so many people I think could benefit from it.’”

Facchine will enlist teammates and friends to help teach beginners the basics and try to progress to live action by the third meeting of the clinic, conducted in partnership with the Dover Recreation Department and New Jersey Lacrosse Foundation.

“It’ll be good to keep it with kids around my age. It’ll be more of a fun time and really relaxed,” Facchine said. “That really helps them enjoy it.”

Facchine has gotten more excited about the potential for the clinic and Community Lacrosse’s future as he has put more time and energy into it.

“I really do think it could be something that could continue. I could work with other communities and do it for boys and girls,” Facchine said. “Right now, it’s just my freshman project, but I think it could be something special. I’m looking to spread the game and light up that spark in some kids that some youth coaches did in me. That really grew me into the person I am today.”

Locally Grown

Maryland (Eastern Shore)

US Lacrosse introduced the latest Lacrosse Athlete Development Model coaching techniques to local youth coaches as part of a Coach Development Program Level 1 clinic at Salisbury. In Wicomoco County, schools will feature lacrosse as part of their PE curriculum in 2018-19, with US Lacrosse set to host a P.E. workshop Aug. 27.

Delaware

Thousands of children received soft sticks via a US Lacrosse grant for the SummerCollab “Tyler’s Camp” program. An additional 70-plus youth players from underrepresented communities received sticks and instruction at Sankofa Lacrosse clinics at Ferris School and Nativity Prep.

Long Island Metro

Brooklyn is buzzing. The Lacrosse Communities Project will launch with clinics organized by Connor Wilson and CityLax this spring, while the Brooklyn Crescents are holding free clinics that regularly draw 100 kids per session. To the east, the Nassau County PAL trained more than 1,000 coaches in US Lacrosse CDP Level 1 clinics for the 2018 season.

New Jersey North

T3 Lacrosse has partnered with 28 Days, a nonprofit founded on the premise that women of all ages need access to affordable feminine products. On the men’s side, the NJJLL funded US Lacrosse Level 1 CDP live clinics for more than 150 coaches to become certified for the spring season.

New Jersey South

The Rutgers-Princeton game provided a great venue for men’s lacrosse in New Jersey on March 10. Robbinsville of the Central Jersey Youth Lacrosse League played against Haddonfield of the South Jersey Youth Lacrosse League at halftime, with more than 1,000 youth players in attendance.

Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Lacrosse Association, in coordination with the PAGLA, hosted back-to-back US Lacrosse Level 1 CDP clinics on March 10 at Radnor High School.  Meanwhile, the Philadelphia School System plans to introduce lacrosse into PE classes through US Lacrosse programming.

Picture This
Jersey Girls

The Jersey Girls Lacrosse Association will host its end-of-season jamboree June 3. It’s a day of fun for graduating “senior” players in the 7/8 division — a great way to celebrate youth lacrosse in New Jersey and let the girls meet some of the players they may see next year on the high school playing fields. Girls are selected based on their leadership on the field and for demonstrating their true love of the game.

My USL Rep

Andi O’Connor, Eastern Mid-Atlantic

O’Connor joined US Lacrosse in December 2012 and oversees development efforts in the Eastern Mid-Atlantic Region, including parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, the states of Delaware and New Jersey. A former Maryland and U.S. national team player and local lacrosse administrator/coach, O’Connor latched onto US Lacrosse as a Greater Baltimore Chapter Board member in the late 1990s and early 2000s and reconnected through the Coach Development Program as a trainer in 2009.

How can US Lacrosse help grow the sport in your backyard? Contact Andi at aoconnor@uslacrosse.org or 410-235-6882, extension 171.