Lacrosse the City

At upcoming club and high school lacrosse games in Kansas City, you’ll find giant red barrels stationed by Lacrosse the City, likely filled with boys and girls old lacrosse sticks and helmets scratched and scuffed after years of use.

Lacrosse the City is a non-profit organization with a goal to spread the game across the Metropolitan community. They plan to create intramural and high school teams with an emphasis on underprivileged areas, so everyone can experience the game. East’s lacrosse team is helping them achieve this by donating old gear and money to Lacrosse the City’s GoFundMe.

In a week, the program’s GoFundMe goal was not only met, but exceeded. After meeting their original goal of $1,000, the organization now hopes to reach $2,000 in donations.

On the GoFundMe page, players, coaches and parents have worked together to make a video explaining the purpose of Lacrosse the City and that the money raised will go towards funding a new team. The organization hopes people in the lacrosse community will spread the word about the program, bringing in more funds to begin the team.

The organization was started by members of the lacrosse community, including past and present East parents who enjoyed watching their kids play the game. The Lacrosse the City board consists of Brian Fries, Sean Hogan, Bill Aliber, Chris Fisher, Gordon Harton, Kevin Kelley, Jeff Mohajir and Jeff Ney.

Fries said that after seeing his son’s passion for lacrosse he wanted to join other parents in spreading the game.

“It has been a great character building experience,” Fries said. “My son has loved being on a team, and has loved working hard and finding success. He plans to play in college now. I would hope that his experiences could be enjoyed by many other kids if they were given the opportunity.”

Fries said the organization aims to create both a boys and girls high school and middle school team for the entire Kansas City Missouri School District. Eventually, they hope the team will become so large that the schools in the district will have to split into more teams.

Lacrosse the City plans for an intramural middle school team to be created by this spring and an official middle school and high school team by next spring. Fries said the teams will be coached by gym teachers within the school district.

Assistant Varsity Coach Dan Leff doesn’t like that lacrosse is known as a “rich kid sport” across the country. He is excited to see the game spread to underprivileged areas so more kids have the opportunity to play. And according to Fries, at a beginner level the equipment cost is roughly $300, causing a high cost barrier which is the reason more people don’t play the sport.

Leff said the idea of Lacrosse the City first arose after learning about a similar program, Harlem Lacrosse, out of Harlem, New York.

“They started Harlem lacrosse and it became a huge thing and worked out great,” Leff said. “Kids are going to college through it and a ton of kids are making lifelong friendships.”

In addition to New York, similar programs have started across the country so Fries decided to try it out in Kansas City.

Fries said that with just 14 boys and 12 girls high school teams across Kansas City, the lacrosse community is looking forward to adding a team to the league. According to Fries, if the first team is a success, then more teams will begin to form down the road.

The SME boys lacrosse team and other major high school teams in Kansas City like Rockhurst, Pembroke and a club team, Blue Lions, are helping Lacrosse the City by raising funds as well as donating equipment.

Senior varsity lacrosse player Hank Breckenridge is looking forward to a wider spread of kids getting involved in the game, bringing more competition to the Kansas City lacrosse community.

“It’s just going to give everyone a chance to try out the sport and really experience it,” Breckenridge said. “It’s something that has changed my life and I want it to do the same for other people.”

Varsity lacrosse player and junior Tommy Pollock believes that once other schools see the way East is helping Lacrosse the City, they will join in to help the organization.

“East is one of the top programs in Kansas City,” Pollock said. “[We’re] very influential with a lot of things [we] do so if East can get involved then other people want to get involved.”