As they say, “If the mountain won’t come to Muhammad then Muhammad must go to the mountain.”
The Brooklyn Crescents Lacrosse Club (BCLC), Brooklyn’s oldest premier youth lacrosse organization announced today its renewed commitment to bring diversity to the game with the addition of several new initiatives. The team will be hosting clinics in several communities throughout Brooklyn and New York City with the specific intent to put sticks on boys’ and girls’ hands that may have never seen or played the game before.
Since its founding in 2006, The Crescents team, players, coaches and extended family have strived to represent the diversity of Brooklyn. Lacrosse has long been saddled with the image that it is the game of the elite, the prep schools, the Ivy League. Many teams lack diversity. The disparity between the number of girls playing versus boys is a wide chasm. While this may be true in many cases, it is not the case with the Crescents.
Building on the legacy of Kevin Graham and the Brooklyn Admirals, the Crescents have had great players in Flatbush, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights and beyond. There are little sisters looking at those sticks perhaps intimidated because they have never seen another proud female athlete strap up the goggles. As The Crescents prepare for the spring 2013 season they want to let those kids in the sometimes forgotten neighborhoods that the Crescents represent them as well.
Board Member Dan Sheff added, “Sports have always been a great way for kids to come out of their shell and comfort zone. The color of your skin, the place where you live don’t mean very much when you’re man down with the game on the line. At that point we are all brothers and sisters. We want take that feeling comradery and create a truly inclusive team. Now we know a kid in Crown Heights may be just as reluctant to come to Bay Ridge to play ball as a kid from Brooklyn Heights may be to come to Nostrand Avenue for a scrimmage. So we are going to where the kids are and show them first-hand how great this game is.” Thanks to FT. Greene Sports, the Crescents will be sponsoring a free beginner’s clinic in FT Greene for boys and girls ages K-8. No equipment is necessary. The clinic will be held in Brooklyn at the School for Career Development, 510 Clermont Ave on Saturday February 23rd from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Register here.
The Crescents also announced new additions to their scholarship program. It has always been The Crescents policy that no player will ever be turned away for financial reasons. Thanks to Modell’s and Harrow Sports that just got a little easier. Thanks to a new partnership Crescents players will receive discounts on equipment from New York sporting goods mainstay, Modell’s (sings “Gotta Go To Mo’s).
In addition Harrow Sports has donated 25 sets of equipment which will save Crescents families thousands of dollars collectively.
More information on clinics, the scholarship program and the spring schedule can be found at brooklyncrescents.com.
