Brooklyn Revival


T


hey were playing lacrosse in Brooklyn before it was cool. In 1893, 10 years after they built the Bridge and


when Brooklyn was still its own city, the Crescent Athletic Club had a team. It played in the U.S. Amateur Lacrosse Association and dominated college teams like Johns Hopkins and other championship-caliber clubs.


46 LACROSSE MAGAZINE September 2013>>


How US Lacrosse helped the sport make a comeback in New York’s most


populous borough By Mark Macyk


The revival began


in the late 1990s, when the late Kevin Graham first founded the former Brooklyn Admirals with an assist from US Lacrosse and its BRIDGE initiative, a precursor to the First Stick Program. Graham’s Admirals


found success as Brooklyn’s first inner- city youth program. After he passed away, eight Admirals got together in 2006


to continue his legacy and formed the Brooklyn Crescents. The Crescents had just 30 players


But after World War II, the suburbanization of the sport left a void in New York’s most populous borough — a void that’s only now beginning to be filled by two programs making the most of US Lacrosse resources. “You’re seeing people on the subway


with a lacrosse stick,” said Joe Nocella, director of the Brooklyn Lacrosse Club. “It’s a boom town.”


that first year. Today they boast more than 300 boys and girls, many of whom will play collegiately. And keeping with Graham’s original vision, it’s a diverse lot. “It’s Brooklyn Heights meets Bed-


Stuy,” co-founder Dan Sheff said. The Crescents do little advertising


and have grown through word of mouth. Finding willing players isn’t an issue. Finding space to play is another matter.


A Publication of US Lacrosse


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