Volunteering with MetroLacrosse has been an incredible experience.  I knew that I wanted to coach after college, but I never imagined that I would feel such a deep sense of commitment to and pride for an organization. In the spring of 2009, I was assigned to the Chelsea Bolts, a 4-6th grade team and I haven’t looked back since. To me, it is a tremendous privilege to work with a group of girls and to watch them grow over the course of a season.  Little things on the field like establishing a solid defensive stance, re-defending after a turn-over, or working together as a team to move the ball to our offensive zone make me jump up and down! In parallel, team discussions off the field reinforce the RESPECT (Responsibility, Effort, Sportsmanship, Enthusiasm, Participation, Communication, and Teamwork) fundamentals which provide opportunities to identify areas of success and improvement.

On a more personal level, volunteering with MetroLacrosse was a source of inspiration to pursue a career in medicine and public health. Unfortunately, I am based outside of Philadelphia working on pre-med requirements to apply to medical school, but I am hopeful that participating on the Boston Marathon team will be a way to give back and to stay involved during this academic-focused year! I will miss coaching this spring, but hope to make it back to Boston for a few Saturday games and training runs with the team!

METROLACROSSE INC wrote -

MetroLacrosse is thrilled to partner with John Hancock and our four runners for the 2012 Boston Marathon in support of the more than 700 urban youth and teens from Boston, Brockton, Chelsea, and Lawrence who participate daily in the programs that MetroLacrosse has to offer.  Without your support, the youth that participate in our programs wouldn’t be as successful.  Thank you for supporting Team MetroLacrosse! 

Mission:

MetroLacrosse is a non-profit organization whose mission is to address the social and economic disparities that exist in urban settings by inspiring personal, educational and athletic success among urban youth and teens.

Youth who play sports are 57% less likely to drop out of school, 49% less likely to take drugs and 37% less likely to become teen parents. 89% of MetroLacrosse alumni say that the lessons learned in MetroLacrosse were important factors as they made positive choices about other parts of their lives.

History:

MetroLacrosse's original goal was to diminish the disparity between sports programs available to Boston's urban youth as compared to their suburban counterparts. MetroLacrosse recognized the opportunity to achieve a more profound impact on urban youth: to inspire, motivate, and support participants to achieve success both on and off the field.

Formally established in the spring of 2000, the origins of MetroLacrosse date back to 1997 when founder Zack Lehman developed a program for inner-city youth in a single neighborhood of Boston. Based on the explosive growth and demonstrated impact of this program, MetroLacrosse was established to provide similar opportunities to youth and teens throughout Boston’s urban neighborhoods. Today, through a unique integration of lacrosse, youth development and educational activities, MetroLacrosse provides more than 700 youth from urban communities with social, recreational and learning opportunities.