This article appears in the Midwest version of the May/June edition of US Lacrosse Magazine. Don’t get the mag? Join US Lacrosse today to start your subscription.
“Never stop. Never quit. Be resolute.”
Resolute Lacrosse’s mission reflects its unwavering commitment to developing youth lacrosse players. The fast-growing organization recently added girls’ lacrosse and has facilitated several college commitments, including players who have committed to Cleveland State, Hofstra, Maryland, North Carolina and Ohio State.
But Resolute’s resolve runs deeper. Its foundation is “to advance the ability and character of today’s player,” pushing youth athletes to their limits while teaching life lessons, aligning with the mission of US Lacrosse to fuel the sport’s growth and enrich the experience of its participants.
At the root of the training and development club are two former Ohio State standouts — Greg Bice (’04) and Anthony Kelly (’03) — who played 10 years together in Major League Lacrosse.
After a coaching stint at Harvard as an assistant, Kelly decided to move to Columbus in 2008 and was later joined by Bice and his wife after they took a mission trip to Honduras.
In 2009, Bice pursued his MBA in leadership, entrepreneurship and marketing at Ohio State, while Kelly took a job at STX. Yet, something was still missing.
“Neither one of us at the time had coached high school, so we decided to come together and do something to help the kids in the area,” Kelly said.
That fall, they founded Resolute and recruited players who didn’t play football or a fall sport. After starting with six kids in a parking lot with a pop-up goal, the program grew to field its first club team in 2012 and now 25 teams in 2018.
Still, something was missing.
Resolute purchased an indoor facility in Columbus five years ago — it’s the only club in the country to own one, Kelly said — as Bice and Kelly worked to expand its offerings to players and grow their skills through box lacrosse.
“It’s a unique opportunity for us. Let’s start doing box,” said Kelly, who began his professional career in 2005 with the NLL’s Minnesota Swarm and most recently led Team White to a 13-12 win over Team Blue in a U.S. indoor exhibition during the 2018 US Lacrosse Convention. “Ohio’s ready. We need to do this. … The kids love it.”
Resolute, one of the first programs to join the US Box Lacrosse Association (USBOXLA) with teams ranging from third grade through high school, will run the new Ohio College Box Lacrosse League (OCBLL) this summer. It also operates the Midwest Classic, which brings the top youth box lacrosse talent in the U.S. to Columbus. The Feb. 17-18 event drew 40 teams spread out over four divisions.
Resolute’s effort mimics that of US Lacrosse, supporting adaptive and innovative versions of the sport while deepening its commitment to the indoor game.
“I definitely think [box is] the future of the growth of the game in the states, without a doubt,” Kelly said. “We’re very pro kids playing multiple sports, but the reality of it is that kids are down to two sports and oftentimes just down to playing lacrosse. The fact that we can offer something in the winter, these kids can train and can develop with a different mindset, develop new skills and develop a new reach of their game.”
“Lacrosse has given me so much and this game has been so great to me,” added Kelly, who recently announced his retirement from MLL. “To give kids the opportunity to do the same things, that makes me a happy guy.”