African-American Players in the SELC

[pistol pete]

Im just curious, but do you see a greater amount of representation from minority lax athletes in FL than we might see in other parts of the country? Any fan of hoops or football (what many consider approporiate cross-over sports for lacrosse players) can't help but appreciate the abundance of african-american players that hail from places like CA, TX, and FL. Is this gap between mostly white and minority representation in lax a race thing, an economics thing, a lack of interest thing (akin to hockey or waterpolo)? Is anything being done to address this gap in the Southeast?

[Dwayne Hicks]

That's a good question. I think the answer is all of the above.

If you are thinking about playing a sport, you have to be introduced to it. And for most black athletes, that introduction is not going to be at their neighborhood rec league or their public school. Lacrosse is still a very obscure game in comparison to other more established sports. Unless you are from the East Coast, which has a long history of the game, lacrosse is probably just gaining momentum in your area high schools. So, black athletes are not going to be exposed to the game and will not want to play it.

Another reason I've found for many black athletes not competing in lacrosse is because of the competition from other more traditional sports. Lacrosse is a spring sport which means many athletes will have to choose between lacrosse, baseball or track and field. That reminds me of Jim Brown, arguably one of the best lacrosse players in the history of the game, who was so good, he played all three sports in the spring.

Trivia question (I read this in a book once): Do you know why lacrosse sticks are required to be at least 40 inches?

Answer: Jim Brown. According to the story, Brown would cut his stick down so short that he could totally hide it on one side of his body. The only way defenders were able to get the ball would be to body check him. Can you imagine hitting Jim Brown without any pads on (1960's) and he's going full speed toward you? Ugly. So, the rules committee made the sticks longer to give defensemen a chance and to make it harder for Jim Brown to run with the ball.

Another reason that many blacks don't play lacrosse is that it is regarded in the black community as a "preppy sport." Some black athlete will tell you straight out that they won't play because it's something that only white kids play. I was lucky in that I grew up in a town on Long Island that was racially mixed and the head of the rec league was a black guy who encouraged everyone to play. But Freeport was not the norm. Whenever we travelled, the teams we'd play against would always be all white. Rarely did we ever play against other black players. And then, as many of my pee-wee (8 and under) teammates grew older, they would bow to peer pressure and quit the preppy sport and do track or baseball. My brother and I were among a handful of black players who played all the way through college. He went to Johns Hopkins and I went to Notre Dame.

Is there a solution? I think as the sport grows, you will see more and more blacks take up the sport. The challenge will be for public sports to invest in the sport and to give all their athletes an opportunity to play. US Lacrosse is investing their money in a program that targets inner city youths. I think it is a great start and will eventually have a huge impact on the game.

Good topic. It certainly beats talking about the polls.

Dwayne Hicks
Head Coach, Oakland University

[Danny Hogan]

interesting topic,

you definatley see a more diverse crowd down here on lacrosse fields. Black, hispanic, and asians do seem to make up a bigger part of the lax demographic.

Just about all of UF's middies are cuban. OJ simpson's son is a LSM for Gulliver Prep.

To touch on one of Dwaynes points,
I think the reason you see more minorities playing down here is because lacrosse doesn't have such a huge private school-elitist tradition. In central and north FL 90% of the schools that play are huge (2-4,000) public schools, in south FL it is mostly private schools, but the racial make up of those schools is far more diverse than your average baltimore prep school.

And no one really knows about lacrosse in general so they wouldn't know that its supposed to be a "white boys sport".

[champp]

The organization in Washington, DC is named, The Washington Inner City Lacrosse Foundation or WINNERS. You can visit there website to learn more about it. www.winnerslacrosse.com .

Last year I volunteered to coach at one of their free clinics that they put on for the kids. It is a great organization and I feel that it is one of the best programs of it's kind to promote the sport among black athletes. As we all know, once you start playing it is easy to fall in love with the sport. Get them involved young!

[grinderpete]

In a few weeks I have the opportunity to travel out to rural Utah and coach a day long clinic for a Ute Indian high school. A friend of mine works with low - income and minority students in the state and has really seen a large group of minorities in the state playing lacrosse (mostly Hispanic). It is great to see people willing to bring this sport to those who normally wouldn't have had access to the greatest sport on earth.
Pete

[OAKS]

Where I grew up (Wilmington, NC) lacrosse was introduced to the area first at the local private school, and then to the public middle schools as an after-school activity to keep kids out of trouble. Most of the middle school teams were split fairly evenly color-wise, but in high school it seems to be more white kids playing, probably as more black kids go out for track or concentrate more on football and basketball. But it was great to see the community provide the equipment and programs for these kids who would most likely never try lacrosse otherwise.

[John Westfall]

Hey Dewayne,

We have a Freshman Defenseman from Freeport Long Island named Adam Woodmansee. Have you ever heard of him. He is becoming a great Player for us at Defense.

We also have a African American Player named Marcus Ollie who is also a Freshman and is a big suprise for our Team.

[Dwayne Hicks]

John:

Can't say that I know him. Now that I live in Detroit, I rarely get a chance to get back to the Island. But if he played in Freeport, I can tell you he's probably very solid on the fundamentals and tough on ground balls. That what we stressed everyday. Please pass on my regards and good luck this season.

Dwayne Hicks
Head Coach, Oakland University

[LAXDawg14]

yea im from nc too.
in the private high schools state wide id say there was about 7......
just an observation

[CATLAX MAN]

In San Francisco, there was a program instituted to introduce lacrosse to inner-city underpriveleged youths. You would always see the coaches with about 20-25 kids in tow taking them to high school games, so that they could see how the game is played in order to assist in their coaching. I don't know if the program is still alive, but I think the person responsible for starting the program received some type of award/acknowledgement from US Lacrosse in recognition of his efforts.