Although never seeing or playing lacrosse before, the children of Bayan-Olgii (predominantly Kazakh), first got to experience the sport of Lacrosse in June of 2012. The youth of Mongolia love to play sports, and this was no different. So, last summer we held the first ever sports camp in Bayan-Olgii. About 60 kids participated, we played soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. The children were all excited to pick up these new shiny sticks and get them in their hands. It was initially quite difficult, but after the week was over they were passing and catching well, doing draws easily, picking up ground balls swiftly, and just being excited to run down the field with the stick in their hand.
Although most of the games looked a bit more like field hockey, their skills were improving over the week. Throughout the rest of summer, I was receiving several calls from various kids who wanted to go out and play lacrosse. When school started up again in the fall, once a week, about 20 kids were meeting to play lacrosse. Winter has come, and made it quite impossible to do much outside, but I know my kids are excited for spring to roll around to get the sticks back in their hands. I plan to have another camp during the summer and would love to start a small league starting in the spring.
One World Lacrosse is currently planning to bring a permanent lacrosse and clean water project back to India in 2013. Past/present high school, college, and professional players are urged to check out www.oneworldlacrosse.org, www.facebook.com/oneworldlax, or email info@oneworldlacrosse.org for more information regarding volunteer and internship opportunities.