Everything You Need to Know About National Celebrate Lacrosse Week

The third-annual National Celebrate Lacrosse Week starts Saturday, as USA Lacrosse and its community partners mobilize to introduce the sport to thousands of youth athletes across the country Nov. 4-12.

More than 2,700 kids nationwide have registered for free USA Lacrosse Pick Up & Play clinics that will be conducted at 76 sites in 32 states. Those already entrenched in the sport can participate in a virtual contest hosted by lacrosse players and personalities Kait Devir (USC) and Mitchell Pehlke (Ohio State) with a chance to win a $500 Visa gift card.

“It’s all things lacrosse,” said Sarah Forrest, USA Lacrosse’s manager of sport growth and participation advancement. “If you are a USA Lacrosse member organization, this is a benefit. This is a value for you to be able to offer this to your community, to grow and sustain your program. Being a part of it with us and National Celebrate Lacrosse Week, you get all that pomp and circumstance. We’re doing this together.”

Here’s what to expect during the nine-day event.

PICK UP & PLAY

Joining a lacrosse team cold turkey can be intimidating, especially if you’ve never held a stick before.

Pick Up & Play clinics allow athletes ages 6-14 to familiarize themselves with the sport in a fun, pressure-free environment. USA Lacrosse provides all necessary equipment, which in this setting amounts to sticks and soft lacrosse or tennis balls. For about an hour, they go station to station learning fundamentals like scooping, cradling and defense in the form of kid-friendly games like Cat and Mouse, Hungry Hippos and Pinnie Tag.

Then it’s time to play Flex6 Lacrosse, an inclusive small-field game that mirrors what you might see in a schoolyard or cul-de-sac.

More than 90 clinics are scheduled to take place between Nov. 4 and Nov. 12 at numerous locations. If you’re interested, it’s not too late to sign up for one near you. Register here.

HERITAGE AND HISTORY

In some places — nowhere more so than the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma — kids will learn about the history of lacrosse and its origins as a Native American sport.

For the second straight year, the Choctaw Nation and Durant Lacrosse Association are hosting a combined Indigenous stickball and modern lacrosse clinic Nov. 9.

“We appreciate the opportunity to showcase lacrosse and stickball. These sports have Native ties, and the collegiate scholarship opportunities are substantial,” Durant Lacrosse Association coach Mike Delloro said after last year’s successful National Celebrate Lacrosse Week event. “Now is a great time for newer players to learn lacrosse and enjoy some of the similarities to stickball.”

ACCESSIBILITY

Wheelchair users are welcome at several sites as indicated on the National Celebrate Lacrosse Week registration page. This year’s slate includes a return trip to Buffalo, New York, where Greater Buffalo Adaptive Sports will host a clinic specifically for athletes with physical and cognitive disabilities Nov. 11.

HOTBEDS, TOO

It’s cool to see lacrosse offerings in places like Bismarck, North Dakota and Baton Rouge, Louisiana — cities most grade schoolers from the sport’s East Coast epicenter only think about when they need to memorize state capitals.

But growing the game also means rallying the base, so to speak, in legacy lacrosse communities like Three Village Lacrosse on Long Island, the Onondaga Valley Lacrosse Association in central New York and the Fairfax Police Youth Club in Virginia.

Forrest cited the example of North Salem Youth Lacrosse in New York’s Hudson Valley, which   has hosted Pick Up & Play clinics continuously over the last three years.

“We’re working with organizations that are tapped into their communities,” Forrest said. “And we’re taking the burden away for any kid to try lacrosse in those communities.”

STAYING POWER

USA Lacrosse provides host organizations not only the equipment to keep, but also the training required to stage similar introductory experiences beyond National Celebrate Lacrosse Week. Webinars cover everything from event logistics and volunteer management to marketing and media outreach.

“It’s completely holistic,” Forrest said. “It’s all the education that they can take with them for their upcoming season or a tournament that they're promoting.”

THE CHALLENGE

A stick. A ball. A competition to rule them all.

As part of National Celebrate Lacrosse Week, USA Lacrosse is launching a contest aimed at rallying fans, and those new to the sport, to pick up a stick and play.

original sound - USA Lacrosse

You could be on the field, at the wall, on a mountain or at the beach. Do something creative or imaginative, capture the video, post it on Instagram or TikTok, tag USA Lacrosse and use the hashtag #CelebrateLacrosse.

USA Lacrosse will choose two winners, each of whom will receive a $500 Visa gift card.

LA28 EFFECT

National Celebrate Lacrosse Week comes on the heels of the IOC’s historic decision to approve the addition of lacrosse to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics last month. The momentum continued this week when representatives of eight leading lacrosse organizations signed the ELEVATE28 charter pledging their support of a shared goal to double participation by the end of the decade.

USA Lacrosse is hosting five Pick Up & Play clinics in greater Los Angeles and another in San Diego during National Celebrate Lacrosse Week. Even future Olympians start somewhere.

“There's no goal at the end of this clinic, like this kid should be able to pass and catch or should be ready to play in an official game. We're not coaching. We're just offering an opportunity for these kids to have a safe, fun environment to try lacrosse,” Forrest said. “Hopefully from there, these kids have had so much fun at their clinic, they want to sign up for the next opportunity to play with that host organization and take the next steps in their lacrosse journey.”