The lacrosse movement in Decatur, Ill. started in the summer of 2015. Tony Albertina, the assistant manager at Decatur Indoor Sports Center, and the rest of the Decatur Parks & Rec staff wanted to find a new sport to introduce to youth in the town of over 70,000 just three hours from Chicago.

Ideas were thrown around, but lacrosse prevailed. The only pitfall was that Albertina, and most of his staff, had no clue about the game, much less how to build a local program from the ground up.

But Albertina had done his research, and decided to spearhead the effort.

“One of the main reasons we decided to pursue lacrosse was, looking at rec stats, it’s the fastest growing sport in America,” he said. “We just had to learn the sport and become experts.”

The job was a tough one, but Albertina has led a two-year effort to introduce lacrosse to the Decatur community. With the help of a US Lacrosse Soft Stick Grant, Albertina has reached thousands of students in the area.

Through working with local college club teams and presenting at physical education classes, Decatur is seeing increasing turnouts at clinics and has enough interest to garner year-round lacrosse. Albertina may still be learning the game, but he now has a qualified staff around him to help the sport grow in Decatur.

“We had to teach them everything,” Albertina said. “How to scoop, how to pass, all the basics. Then you have to teach them team offense and team defense. … The kids absolutely enjoyed it. It’s not a boring sport where you sit in left field and hope the ball gets hit to you. The sport is go, go, go the whole time and kids who have never done it before, they loved it.”

Step 1 of Albertina’s plan to introduce lacrosse was to give a 30-minute presentation to physical education classes around Decatur — the only city of its size in central Illinois that didn’t have lacrosse. In total, Albertina and his team got sticks in the hands of 3,300 kids, while visiting 21 different schools and more than 190 PE classes. 

“The kids had fun with it,” he said. “The teachers said that the kids had a blast with it, that their parents were calling the next day and saying, ‘My son came home and said you had lacrosse today. What is that sport?’”

Recreation staff met with coaches and players of the Illinois Wesleyan club team, which offered to conduct skills clinics for Decatur last year. The team at Illinois State did the same, for five weeks.

By the spring of 2016, there was enough interest to start an outdoor program for ages 7-15. A total of 82 children came out for the program, which held practices once a week and scrimmaged neighboring teams.

Albertina also helped to start a program for toddlers, called “Little Laxers.” He’s gone from knowing little about the game, to being as passionate as any advocate.

“We’re still students of the game,” he said. “There’s so much to learn. I’m a huge fan of lacrosse. You can ask some of my coworkers. They get annoyed with me because I talk about the sport all the time.”

Equipped with a staff that includes two US Lacrosse CDP Level 2 certified coaches, Albertina is using his passion to drive the Decatur lacrosse program forward, hoping it continues growing.

“We just want kids to have fun and learn a new sport,” he said. “We’ve gotten kids from a lot of different backgrounds. We have soccer players, cross country kids, hockey and football players.”

Locally Grown

Central Ohio

The chapter received a restricted gift that helped certify 75 officials and provides for a new observers program, youth officials equipment and recertification.

Illinois

The Decatur Park District recently was awarded a USL Community Impact Grant to create after-school lacrosse clinics.

Indiana

More than 140 coaches received training in the Coach Development Program, with Level 1 and Level 2 clinics Feb. 25-26 in Zionsville, Ind.

Iowa

The West Des Moines Community School District hosted a US Lacrosse PE workshop for its schools and teachers.

Kentucky

Lexington Traditional Magnet School received a USL Urban Outreach Grant to introduce lacrosse.

Minnesota

The ATG Legacy Project provides lacrosse equipment, playing fees and officials training fees to participants in underserved, low-income and special situations.

Nebraska

An emerging lacrosse state, Nebraska’s USL membership had grown to 977 at press time.

North Coast Ohio

The chapter is working with MUNY football to introduce lacrosse as a spring sport alternative. A US Lacrosse Urban Outreach Grant will provide playing opportunities for 200 boys and girls this summer.

North Dakota/South Dakota

The Dakota Premier League currently supports 38 boys’ teams from the two states from 12U through varsity.

Southern Ohio

Approximately 120 coaches participated in US Lacrosse CDP Level 1 and Level 2 clinics during the first quarter of the year.

Wisconsin

The Great Lakes Lacrosse League — comprised of 43 teams from the Midwest — hosted its championship weekend April 22-23.

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