Local Youth Lacrosse Opens 10th Anniversary Season

by Irene Byrne Ohl

(April 18, 2007) After a cold and windy start to Larchmont-Mamaroneck Youth Lacrosse’s (LMYL) 10th anniversary recreation spring season, the league continued practices on Saturday, April 14 with the sun shining down on hundreds of eager boys and girls ready to dust off their sticks and shine their lacrosse skills. Shunning the winter hats, coats and gloves that they needed to keep warm at Friday’s night’s “Meet and Greet,” a few optimistic players even sported short sleeves for Saturday’s practice.

Morgan and Molly Banks, sisters who attend Murray Avenue School, were excited to use their new lacrosse sticks and practice with their First Steppers team, the Lynxes. “We had fun!” the sisters reported at the end of Saturday’s practice. Morgan, age five, liked the “egg tossing” drill best – where the league’s youngest players learn to catch the ball by thinking it is an egg and using “soft hands.” Big sister Molly, age 6, returning for her second year, learned how “to scoop up ground balls like a pancake.” Their father, Stephen had heard about LMYL from friends and was happy to watch his daughters get involved in the country’s fastest growing sport for girls.

As the sunny morning gave way to a sunnier afternoon, the Bantam players took to the fields to get reacquainted with their old lacrosse teammates, make some new friends and have a catch in the sun.

The lacrosse First Steppers demonstrate a stick salute.

LMYL has a record 245 boys and 276 girls enrolled in the recreational lacrosse program this anniversary year. To guide the players to perform their best, LMYL has been busy with staff development since January when they hosted the Positive Coaching Alliance’s Double-Goal Coach Workshop in Mamaroneck High School’s tiered class room. World Cup Champion and former MLL player Reid Jackson was PCA’s facilitator. Mr. Jackson returned in March to give a coaching clinic to the boy’s rec coaches. The same day at the Hommocks gym, the girl’s coaches hosted John Jay HS Girls Varsity Coach Gail Lozado for their coaching clinic. LMYL has certified its entire coaching staff of over 90 coaches this season in fulfillment of their Seal of Commitment award from PCA.

“We are all hoping for a very sunny season this year,” commented Girls Rec Commissioner Kate Verni as she surveyed two hard-working teams of Bantam girls playing on the Town Center/Annex field. “Our coaches are super-charged to be here to work with all these wonderful girls. Our theme for LMYL’s 10 th anniversary is: We Honor the Game Here. All our coaches are ready to teach players to foster respect for the game’s rules, opponents, officials, coaches, teammates and themselves. We are all very excited that the season has finally begun.”

Registration is closed for this season, but anyone wishing to join LMYL for the 2008 season should send an email now to the registrar (lmyl07@aol.com) in order to get on the mailing list for this fall’s online registration.

Irene Byrne Ohl is a member of the LMYL Executive Board, Girls Travel Commissioner and the PCA Project Director. Obviously addicted to lacrosse, Irene interrupted the bailing out of over two feet of water in her basement from Sunday’s Noreaster to submit this report on LMYL’s opening day.

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