This article appears in the Northeast version of the July/August edition of US Lacrosse Magazine. Don’t get the mag? Join US Lacrosse today to start your subscription.
Growing up in Rochester, N.Y., London Booker tried almost all of the same sports that other inner-city kids played. Football, basketball, track — he gave them all a shot.
But candidly, Booker said, “I didn’t really like sports.”
Then, in the summer of 2006, a then 12-year-old Booker met lacrosse. He spent four weeks playing at the first Roc E6 lacrosse summer camp, designed to introduce inner-city youth to sports that they had not been exposed to previously. All of a sudden, the quiet and reserved kid found his athletic calling.
“Everything else, I had tossed aside, but this sport was different,” Booker said. “It was something that I liked for once.”
For Booker, the bug carried over for three more years as he returned to camp each summer and further developed his game. When the time for high school arrived, his family moved to the suburbs, in part to allow him the opportunity to continue playing the game he loved at Gates-Chili High School. Roc E6 founder Art Alvut continued to mentor Booker.
During his high school summers, Booker joined a Fellowship of Christian Athletes travel team, which provided enough exposure to eventually lead him to the newly created varsity program at local Roberts Wesleyan University. Throughout his college days, Booker continued to coach youth teams with the Roc E6 program.
“I never really left Roc E6,” he said. “I was there because I love lacrosse.”
Fast-forward to 2018, and Booker’s commitment to the advancement of inner-city youth and lacrosse has led him to the position of vice president at Roc E6. The organization continues to build on its original mission, using the passion of lacrosse to provide opportunities to inner-city youth. From a small team of 22 in 2006, Roc E6 has grown to five teams with more than 120 players and has helped advance lacrosse in the Rochester City School District.
As VP, Booker still coaches teams while also spending his time seeking scholarships and additional resources to help his players participate in summer camps and tournaments. It’s almost a second full-time job for Booker, who also is a middle school math teacher in the city.
“It’s all about trying to make a difference,” Booker said. “And I think there is some value to kids in seeing a coach who looks like them and has come from similar surroundings.”
In April, Booker coordinated the Roc E6 Lacrosse Festival, featuring a daylong lineup of games, clinics and instruction. The schedule included eight games, starting with third- and fourth-graders and ending with a high school game. Booker also arranged for a US Lacrosse Sankofa Clinic that day to help provide instruction to all the players, boys and girls.
Additionally, the US Lacrosse Greater Rochester Chapter sponsored a Coach Development Program Level 1 clinic as part of the festival, offering free registration to participating coaches. The chapter also coordinated volunteer game officials and provided prizes and giveaways for the fundraising raffle.
Jen Allen, a member of the chapter’s leadership board, was impressed by the collaboration.
“It was an honor for our chapter to work alongside some of the most passionate, dedicated youth coaches and coordinators in the area,” Allen said. “The day was a result of great team effort and was a lot of fun.”
In recent years, the chapter also has supported Roc E6 with equipment drives, diversity grants and sponsorship of teams for events like Shootout for Soldiers.
“The idea is to have an ongoing and evolving relationship between the chapter and Roc E6,” Allen said. “They have a dynamic group of people leading that organization. The kids of Rochester are very fortunate.”
