Schools

MIssouri Lacrosse Club to Host Clinic in December

Goal is to promote lacrosse locally and select a premier team to represent the region.

On any given Sunday, fans will find some 1,400 youngsters playing lacrosse at SportPort in the River Port area of far west St. Louis County.

This is a sport that has enjoyed phenomenal growth from both girls and boys.

The sport, started by Indians played primarily with a stick and ball was imported from eastern U.S.schools in the early 1970s. MICDS was the local initiator of this fast-growing sport.

Andy Kay, English teacher and dean of seventh grade at MICDS, and Chris Mower, former MICDS grad and parent, are reaching out to take this to the next level.

Kay, formerly of Washington D.C., has organized a couple of major events to make this sport explode locally.

On Dec. 10 and 11, he has rounded up coaches primarily from eastern universities to put on a clinic for players, coaches and parents.

At the same time, Kay and Mower are forming Missouri 22 Lacrosse, a team of 30 all-stars who will put 22 players on the field any given weekend in June and July of 2012.

“We need to get exposure for our kids, and we need to position them so they can play for these kinds of programs,” Kay said.

The guest list includes coaches from Duke University, Rutgers, Yale University, Tufts University, Fairfield University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Marquette University as well as Lindenwood University.

Visiting coaches will conduct open clinics for youth as well as high school coaches. There will be open sessions for high school players. There will be a parent recruiting forum, and the Missouri lacrosse coaches will select 30 players to the final roster.

“The time has come for major universities across the country to support lacrosse in Missouri. This is the next generational sport. We want to make things bigger and more robust for our program,” Kay said.

“There are coaches out there looking for that diamond in the rough,” he said.

“We simply have to be aggressive and advocate for our program and our players,” the MICDS teacher said. “Lacrosse is here to stay, and the kids love the sport,” he said.


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