Asbury Park (N.J.) School District’s first foray into lacrosse didn’t inspire much confidence in Brian Wildeman. A summer school lacrosse program culminated with the faculty taking on their elementary school kids last year.

“My first reaction to it was, ‘I thought this next year was going to be a lot of work,’” Wildeman said. “It was basically a game of field hockey last year.”

Wildeman joined program creator Lauren Arnone this year, and the two district teachers could see noticeable growth in their season-ending game Aug. 7.

“This year, the kids had already been acclimated to it, so we could dive more into skills and really getting them prepared for the game,” Arnone said. “I feel like they were more excited for the game this year, because they did have more of a skill base than they did the first year.”

Arnone, who grew up in New Jersey and played at Dominican (N.Y.) College, started the program to give third-, fourth- and fifth-graders a new opportunity in Asbury Park — a small city of 15,000 people trying to revitalize its community, but fighting the second-highest crime rate in the state.

“The students in this district, they’re constantly looking for something to do,” Wildeman said. “There’s a lot that goes on in the area that wouldn’t be the best road for them to go down. This gives them an opportunity to be a part of a team, learn discipline that’s involved with the sport, learn about team rules and all that. It’s more about not just the skills of the game, [but also] the teamwork and life skills that come along with lacrosse.”

Wildeman applied for a US Lacrosse First Stick Program grant and received 15 boys’ and 15 girls’ sticks, 24 balls and two nets to support the Asbury Park program. They taught lacrosse daily as a summer school elective.

“The next step is to have the new after-school program at the middle school take another year as an after-school activity so they can build their skills and knowledge of the game before we take them to play other middle school teams,” Arnone said.

Sixty miles north, just above Newark in Passaic, a city with the fourth-lowest income level in New Jersey, Jim Robbins also is introducing lacrosse to a new community. He was a founder almost 20 years ago and then eventually the high school coach at nearby Verona, and is trying to jumpstart another program.

“We started off with the recreation department,” said Robbins, who had the support of Jessica Lezcano, superintendent of recreation for the city of Passaic. “We’re going to try to have it as a gym class in the elementary schools, then we’ll matriculate it through the school system so we can have it as a high school sport.”

Robbins, who played at Cortland, and former Fairleigh Dickinson coach Wayne Braxton led a clinic May 18 that attracted nearly 200 fifth-graders to Passaic’s William B. Cruise Veterans Memorial School No. 11. They used equipment donated and equipment received from a US Lacrosse Soft Stick Program grant. Robbins has been holding weekly clinics that have attracted dozens of coed players.

“They love it,” Robbins said. “The next week, they’re bringing their brothers or sisters with them. They like it, the moms and dads are standing around watching practice, and they’re really enjoying it.”

Robbins is optimistic that Passaic eventually will support high school lacrosse. They have started young with hopes of gaining early interest in the sport.

“We’re going back to doing our clubs Mondays and building it up so we can have a club at the high school level,” Robbins said. “Of course, we have to have the buy-in from the school district, and we did very well on that May 18 and got good feedback from the city and from the superintendent of schools, so that was good.”

Asbury Park shares strong support from its school district. Superintendent Sancha Gray was among the faculty that played and was impressed by what she saw from their elementary school-aged players.

“It was really exciting,” Wildeman said. “All the faculty members were like, ‘What happened from last year? They know what they’re doing.’”

Thanks to the efforts of community leaders and teachers, New Jersey is growing its lacrosse ranks.

“The foundation is being built,” Robbins said

Locally Grown

Delaware

Tyler’s Camp, a program connecting educators, community centers and coaches to ignite students’ love for learning, introduced the sport to more than 1,000 kids in the state with support from US Lacrosse.

Delmarva

Thirty Wicomico County P.E. teachers attended a US Lacrosse workshop Aug. 29 in Fruitland, Md.

Long Island Metro

The LIMLF hosted a free special needs lacrosse clinic Oct. 4, conducted by coach Tom Campolettano and the Molloy College women’s team. The chapter also was recently selected as host for the Wheelchair Lacrosse national championship next August.

New Jersey North

The NJJLL and JGLA are working to get their coaches on the path to certification, with several upcoming clinics scheduled for the region. Morristown hosted a TryLax clinic Oct. 14 with children from more than 25 different towns.

New Jersey South

Local leaders in coastal and central New Jersey are working with USL to plan TryLax clinics.

Philadelphia

Wilkes University hosted a town hall meeting in August to offer local leaders an opportunity to share successes and challenges, resulting in a US Lacrosse TryLax clinic Oct. 21 at Scranton. There’s a US Lacrosse CDP Level 1 clinic scheduled in December in Northampton.

Picture This

Rainy Day Fun

Chevra Lacrosse, a Sunday program for boys grades 2-7 attending yeshivas in New Jersey, did not let the rain spoil its fun on this particular Sunday in May. Founder Marc Goldfarb shared that the boys continue to build skills and grow with lacrosse. “It’s amazing watching a player learn to throw, catch and scoop, and now do face dodges,” he said. Chevra Lacrosse is a US Lacrosse First Stick Program grant recipient.

My USL Rep

Andi O’Connor

O’Connor joined US Lacrosse in December 2012 and oversees development efforts in the Eastern Mid-Atlantic Region, including parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, the states of Delaware and New Jersey. A former Maryland and U.S. national team player and local lacrosse administrator/coach, O’Connor latched onto US Lacrosse as a Greater Baltimore Chapter Board member in the late 1990s and early 2000s and reconnected through the Coach Development Program as a trainer in 2009.

How can US Lacrosse help grow the sport in your backyard? Contact Andi at aoconnor@uslacrosse.org or 410-235-6882, extension 171.