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Appollon for the Big Apple
Shari Appollon’s work for inclusion brings her full circle in New York
By Paul Krome
Spend some time talking with Shari Appollon, and her passion for growing the game quickly becomes clear. But it’s what she struggles to verbalize that makes her perhaps the perfect fi t as the volunteer girls’ program director for Brooklyn Lacrosse and a member of the US Lacrosse Diversity and Inclusion Task Force. Appollon, 28, caught the lacrosse bug in high school and played at Syracuse after former coach Lisa Miller saw her at the Orange’s summer camp. She had to pause when asked to describe the rewards she feels as a mentor to girls who had little to no previous experience with lacrosse. “It’s hard to describe,” Appollon said.
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The US Lacrosse Southeast Championships, powered by Lacrosse Unlimited, begin in Raleigh, N.C. It’s one of four tournaments this
month for U13 and U15 boys’ and girls’ teams and one of four men’s LAREDO and women’s LEAD offi ciating clinics. US Lacrosse is expected to announce dates, sites and early-bird registration discounts for the 2015 regional championships this summer.
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“When I think how I was introduced to lacrosse and the opportunities that were opened up to me, a leader in the community was willing to put time into teaching life lessons and the sport and mentoring girls to go far. Now I’m in that role. I can be the same mentor or role model for girls — words can’t describe that feeling, how I’m helping to mentor girls.” Appollon’s family moved several times during her childhood before she was able to settle in as a ninth grader at Elmont Memorial (N.Y.) High. Knowing sports were a good way to make friends, she played basketball and lacrosse — the latter thanks in part to a push from a “lax-rat” tutor. Appollon quickly became a lax rat
as well, and improved to the point that playing in college became realistic. Finances, however, proved a barrier to attending summer camps or tournaments that many college coaches choose to use as evaluation for prospects. Of all of the coaches, only Miller
offered an adjusted payment plan for her camp. Appollon attended the camp after her sophomore year of high school. She went on to
enjoy a productive four-year career as a defender for the Orange, earning second-team IWLCA All-Northeast Region honors as a senior. Appollon later earned a master’s
degree from Stony Brook’s Manhattan campus while coaching at Wagner. Thankful for the opportunities the sport had given her and knowing fi rsthand the role costs can play in prohibiting entry to the sport, Appollon searched for youth lacrosse clubs in Brooklyn. She found Brooklyn Lacrosse and volunteered to become its director of girls’ lacrosse. In just two short seasons, the program has grown to include 125 girls, ranging in age from 5 to 15. Appollon teaches the girls the skills of the sport and emphasizes the
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A Publication of US Lacrosse
©PEYTON WILLIAMS (INSET)
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