All finished!

Well, I can't believe it, but my current project with In the Arena is now complete! Three weeks sure goes by quickly. 

Friday I spent my last few hours at the Frisoli Youth Center.  Staff members Francis, Sarah, Stephanie and Deryl were all very helpful and enthusiastic about spreading the game of lacrosse, and I think together we got some girls excited about it! They were very happy to know that Shady Hill School (in Cambridge) is permanently donating some of the sticks we borrowed to ITA, so Amory is nicely going to pass those on to Frisoli so the kids can continue to play!  Many thanks to the Center and to all the girls for a great few weeks.

Saturday brought a fun and special event.  The Boston Cannons (the professional Major League Lacrosse team in Boston) generously donated 30 tickets to ITA so that the kids we have been working with could be exposed to the highest level of lacrosse.  The tickets were used by families both from Gately and from West Cambridge, and I hope that they thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience!  We greatly appreciate the Cannons' kindness!

Today, Monday, was my final session at the West Cambridge Youth and Community Center.  It was truly a great finale.  The weather held up nicely for us as it wasn't quite as hot as it has been, and both groups seemed to have a lot of fun.  I was particularly proud of my second group's game of steal the bacon-- they had improved very much in all aspects of the game (ground balls, defense, shooting and some passing!!)!  We still enjoyed some water balloons, used both with the sticks and recreationally, at the end of each hour.  The kids and staff members at West Cambridge made me a beautiful card as well which I absolutely loved.  I was truly touched by it, so thank you to all of you :-).  Chanelle and Robin were amazing staffers from week to week and helped the kids and me have fun!

Despite the short length of my project, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with both ITA and all three of the great youth centers in Cambridge.  I feel as if I learned a lot and was challenged by the situation, but also had a lot of fun getting to know some of the kids and staff members.  I hope that everyone had  a lot of fun and that some of the kids will stick with the game-- I certainly saw some stars in the making! 

Many, many thanks to all who were involved and helped this happen.

I finally got a few photos of my groups and even got a little footage of a water balloon toss today!  Look for those in the next few days.

Last Day at Gately

Yesterday was my last day at Gately...three weeks certainly went by quickly! I am so grateful to the staff members who were incredibly helpful and made everything run smoothly-- many thanks to Margaret, Jess, Herve, Adam, Sarah, and Kaitlin (and my apologies if anyone's name is spelled incorrectly!).  It was so much fun working with all of the kids, and I am so impressed with how much they improved.  We played a long game of "steal the bacon" yesterday, and there was some fantastic passing, shooting, and defense!! I was very proud.  Most of all, I really appreciated the enthusiasm that this group had all along.  I hope that everyone had fun with the sport and saw how far an open mind and a positive attitude can go!

West Cambridge

Today was another scorcher in Cambridge!! Even the first group of boys who was so enthusiastic last week struggled to be outside today...we did what we could and then the boys enjoyed throwing water balloons at each other at the end as a treat.  For the second group, only three people came out, but we actually had a blast! Steven, James, and Bella were a blast and a treat to work with.  They were innovative and we came up with some fun new games.  I was even crazy enough to let them shoot on me (with tennis balls of course)...I don't think I made one save! I always have had a great deal of respect for lacrosse goalies... :-).

Last day at Gately tomorrow...can't believe it!

Frisoli

Friday I worked again with the girls at Frisoli; we had a bigger group this time due to some other events getting cancelled, so that was nice!  We also stayed in the air conditioned gym...as much as I love being outside and lacrosse is meant to be played outdoors, I think it was much more enjoyable for the girls to be in during the two hour period.  The highlight of Friday was a pretty legitimate game of lacrosse baseball!! It works great for this age group because everyone can have fun with a stick in her hand, while conquering some of the basics in the field. 

I basically have one more week working with all three of the fantastic centers in Cambridge...I can't believe it! This time has gone so fast...still some good surprises ahead though!

Meanwhile, training is going well. I am running intensely four times a week or so in addition to lifting, wallball, and shooting.  My high school club team, REV, is also running alumni clinics which we refer to as "Wednesday Night Lights."  A friend is helping me get involved with a summer league this week which will be very helpful and probably fun! U.S. tryouts are in less than two weeks!

Water balloons!

Today was my second time working with the kids and staff members at Gately, and I think it went really well!! The group opted to stay in the air conditioned gym (what a treat to have that!), and that was definitely a good life decision.  We enjoyed a competitive game of handball, then practiced some skills and played a game at the end.  There are a lot of talented athletes in the group!! We had fun at the end of our time as we went outside to play with water balloons.  Bryce and David tried to nail me with their unbreakable balloon, but luckily for me it remained unbreakable!!

I have to mention the three girls that played today-- Sam, Callie, and Staisha (hopefully your names are spelled somewhat correctly!).  They really did a great job and toughed it out playing with and against the boys!  Sam & Callie stayed after as well to keep practicing...I was certainly very proud of their progress!

West Cambridge Youth and Community Center

Today was my first day at the third site where I am working, the West Cambridge Youth and Community Center.  Similar to Frisoli, this was another new and beautiful center that I am so glad the kids of Cambridge have access to. 

I had a lot of fun working with the groups at West Cambridge today.  I worked with two different groups for an hour each, which is a good amount of time where we can get enough in to have it be meaningful and everyone can stay somewhat focused.  My first group was made up of ten 9-12 year old boys...and they were awesome!  They were all really fired up to play.  First we played handball to simulate getting open for your teammates on the lacrosse field and moving the ball down the field, and we had a great competitive game!  The boys were really into throwing and catching, so then we just played handball with our sticks basically...same rules, and they did great! I will work with them again on Wednesday and am really looking forward to it.  The second group of kids was definitely more tired , but did a good job pushing through!  We played some more handball and did the basic passing for a bit, but then we mixed it up and did a fun relay race with sticks and played lacrosse baseball!

The most important thing is that the kids have fun...and with sticks in their hand as often as possible!

For once I am hoping that tomorrow is another scorcher...planning on whipping out some water balloons at Gately! :-)

First Day at Frisoli

Today I had my first experience at the Frisoli Youth Center.  It is a very nice facility which includes an indoor gym and a well-kept computer lab.  They seem to keep the kids who come to the center busy with some great activities; when we arrived today, a group was off to practice golf!


A group of around 15 girls braved the heat again and came outside with me, along with staff members Sarah and Francis, who had played lacrosse in high school and through the Metro Lacrosse program.  While some of the girls (Frisoli runs an all-girls program in the summer) understandably faded a bit due to the heat, several seemed to be genuinely excited about learning and playing, which was awesome!  We did the some of the basics, including cradling, catching and throwing, ground balls, and shooting.  The girls seemed to most enjoy the shooting we did against a fence and the "Steal the Bacon" game we played at the end!

This week has been a great learning process for me.  I realize that I need to be more creative in trying to engage the kids I am working with in order to get them excited about the game of lacrosse.  The ultimate goal is for them to have fun and come away with a good impression of the sport.  I am going to enlist the help of some of my U.S. and Duke teammates this weekend to try to get some ideas!

Day One at Gately

Today was my first day working with the kids and staff members at the Gately Youth Center.  The director of the center, Adam, was very welcoming and gave me a nice introduction to everyone at the center.  The kids were given the option of coming outside to learn lacrosse during their "choice" time, and about 15-20 came out, which was very exciting and very brave of them considering the extreme heat that has engulfed the Boston area!! We worked on the basics--cradling, throwing, catching, and shooting before playing a really fun game at the end.  Adam, in addition to Gately staff members Margaret (who played lacrosse at Amherst) and Jess (who played field hockey in college and on the national level) came out to help and were truly fantastic! A few "shout outs" in particular need to go out to:
-David, who tore it up during our final game with his speed!
-Sarah & Paula, who said they love cheerleading but make great lacrosse players!
-all of the boys who wanted to play goalie!!


I will be joining everyone at Gately tomorrow during their "Sport 101" time and am looking forward to it!

First Day Tomorrow!

Tomorrow I start my first work for In the Arena and I must admit I am anxiously awaiting it! Several months have passed since I was first introduced to Amory and In the Arena (all over the internet...we met in person for the first time today!) and I am excited about how the project has shaped up.  I will be working with three different youth and community centers in Cambridge, MA to get the kids excited about lacrosse and share the experiences that I have been fortunate to have at Duke and with the U.S. team.  I am particularly looking forward to interacting with Cambridge residents, as I attended BB&N (Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School) in Cambridge from 7th-12th grade. 

As for training, I started everything up again a couple of weeks ago after taking much of June to rest my body.  Our season at Duke ended in late May with a loss to Northwestern in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, and I had been training for close to two years straight with little rest due to the World Cup last summer.  Needless to say, it was nice to take a few weeks off!  I am excited, however, because I haven't lost too much of my fitness.  I currently have my eyes set on tryouts for the U.S. Lacrosse team from July 29th-August 1st.