This article appears in the May/June 2020 edition of US Lacrosse Magazine. Don’t get the mag? Head to USLacrosse.org to subscribe.
Rick Burton is a clinician for the US Lacrosse Sankofa Clinic Series and also serves as a boys’ lacrosse coach at Edgewood (Md.) High School. His passion for the sport has motivated him to launch Route 40 Lacrosse, a program aimed at bringing the game to young people from all backgrounds.
What’s your lacrosse background?
Being from Baltimore, I started playing lacrosse in middle school. I eventually played collegiate lacrosse at Wesley College in Delaware, then joined the United States Air Force, which allowed me to play the game in places like Qatar. I have taken my lacrosse stick with me around the world, so it’s always disappointing when I hear people ask, “Black people play lacrosse?”
How did Route 40 Lacrosse start?
When I accepted the coaching position at Edgewood, which I thought was a predominately black high school, I noticed the team was multicultural, so that was a plus. But then I learned that all the black players were just football players with sticks. The black kids weren’t exposed to lacrosse until high school because it wasn’t affordable. That motivated me to start organizing free clinics for kids in our same community.