Tuesday, March 26, 2013

it's new, it's exciting, IT'S LACROSSE

I know I have a lot to catch up on, but February had some particularly awesome things happen, so I'm going to highlight those first. 

You might remember last spring, before Jason came home, the boys and I were traveling to Missoula for Ethan to participate in lacrosse. Turns out he loves it, and we love watching, but the drive is not a short one, and I knew there had to be a better way. I talked with the league director in Missoula about bringing lacrosse to Helena, and with his help, I got started. In October, we had our very first meeting to make this little dream of mine a reality. Much to my surprise there were about 20 kids that came out to find out more and who wanted to play!

Chris designed our club logo for us, and maybe someday, his design will be in the Helena history books. 
In February, after several board meetings and a lot of discussion, we decided to jump in, feet first. We held our very first throw around. This is where we send out an invitation, kids can bring friends, no registration required, just bring a stick and a ball. The kids usually do some passing and practicing then break into a scrimmage. 
Elliott is getting quite good at his throwing and catching.  
The kids are from 7yrs old (minus Elliott) through high school, and they are all beginners. 
They ran some drills. 
And even got to shoot on the net. 
Ethan is so fun to watch 
Our season has now started, and we are up to 51 registered kids!! 
We will have 3 teams this season.  
Several of our players are also hockey players. We took advantage of a hockey tournament in Missoula to catch a Griz Lacrosse game and sell t-shirts to raise some money for our club. I love these kids. They had a blast watching a live lacrosse game, as most of them have never seen one. 
Jason and the boys threw around a little bit while waiting for the Griz game to start. 
Elliott plays "all-in".
The kids got to meet the Griz players after the game and get their shirts signed. 
Almost everyday, you can find Jason, Ethan and Elliott with a stick in their hand. 
Looks like we just became a dual sport family. 
It has been a lot of work putting this all together and organizing, but I have some great people helping me out, and we are so lucky to have some amazing guys who came forward and donated their time to coaching. Each one of them played for several years and is very knowledgeable. Starting in April, our teams will be traveling around the state to play games, and I can't wait to see how they do. 

I'm so glad that I was able to bring lacrosse to Helena, and I'm looking forward to watching it grow in the future.