Game on // players THE CAMPAIGN
US Lacrosse education and training programs to receive boost from the National Lacrosse Center
BY BRIAN LOGUE
Earlier this year, US Lacrosse launched “Game On,” a $15 million capital campaign that includes construction of the National Lacrosse Center, a 45,000-square-foot facility on 12 acres in Sparks, Md., that will serve as the new national headquarters for US Lacrosse, feature an expanded museum to showcase the sport’s history and include an exhibition and training field that will serve as the home for the U.S. national teams. But it’s more than that.
US Lacrosse conducts more than 100
instructional clinics for coaches annually.
“This campaign is about more than a building,” said Susie Chase, vice president of the US Lacrosse Foundation, the philanthropic arm of US Lacrosse. “It’s a center of leadership in the sport for the entire country.” Donors have embraced the campaign and the organization, Chase said. “They’re inspired by spreading the sport across the country and they think US Lacrosse is best positioned to do that,” she said. “It’s all about the kids for them.” Since US Lacrosse was founded in 1998, the organization’s staff has grown from 12 to 84 and it went from serving 20,000 members to more than 430,000. The current headquarters were built in 1991 and expanded in 1998, but the organization’s growth has rendered the building inefficient. “This organization has suffered operationally because our current arrangement is suboptimal,” said Steve Stenersen, president and CEO of US Lacrosse. But how will a new building in Baltimore serve the sport on a national level? That question came from a commenter on a Facebook post about the campaign. One of the leadership roles that US Lacrosse plays is in delivering much-needed educational resources for coaches and officials. The new facility will play a major role in helping expand US Lacrosse those offerings. “A big part of our strategy is to build up a pool of people to deliver the curriculum consistently throughout the country,” said Erin Smith, director of education and training for US Lacrosse. “The biggest impact is going to be the ease of hosting a variety of training sessions at the facility, primarily our train-the-trainer sessions for coaches and officials. We spend a lot of time with logistics and with the building, we’ll have everything we need to host clinics and training.”
28 LACROSSE MAGAZINE » November 2014
An exhibition field will be used to film training videos for players, coaches and officials.
A Publication of US Lacrosse
©ZACH HEFFNER
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