This article appears in the December edition US Lacrosse Magazine. Join US Lacrosse today to start your subscription.

US Lacrosse has created an online training tool designed to assist lacrosse organizations in further educating coaches, parents and athletes about the impact of diversity and inclusion. Through intentional, deliberate and meaningful actions and investment, US Lacrosse seeks to lead efforts to make lacrosse a more inclusive, accessible and tolerant sport.

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The Great Ball Game

The origin story of lacrosse — the one told by faith keepers of the Haudenosaunee people, and specifically by Onondaga Chief Oren Lyons in the Cultural Competency course — is about a great ball game played between four-legged animals and winged birds. When they lined up, a bat came along. The birds rejected him because he had teeth. The animals rejected him because he had wings. Finally, the birds relented, allowing the bat to play, and he scored the game-winning goal. Diversity is more than a buzzword at US Lacrosse. It's in our DNA.

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Topic Modules 

Bias
Microaggressions
Social Class
Inclusive Leadership and Team Culture

Expertise

US Lacrosse commissioned George B. Cunningham, an expert on diversity in sport, to lead the research and develop the curriculum for the Cultural Competency course. Cunningham, an award-winning author, is the director of the Center for Sports Management Research and Education as well as the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport at Texas A&M University.

COM•PE•TENCE

noun the ability to do something successfully or efficiently

This training will:

1. Help you create an inclusive environment for your program to better serve your players, families and communities.

2. Provide you with the tools necessary to play a role in cultivating discussions on diversity, inclusion and belonging.

Set the Standard

"It is important to understand and respect that everyone comes from difference backgrounds. We need to set that standard.” — Whipsnakes, Georgia Swarm and Team USA defender Matt Dunn, one of numerous pro players to complete the US Lacrosse Cultural Competency Course.

To Learn More

Head to USLacrosse.org/Diversity