Organizations Commit to Sharing Strategies, Resources to Expand the Game
BALTIMORE, Jan. 28, 2014 – Consistent with its strategic goal to help foster increased diversity and inclusion efforts within the game, US Lacrosse has committed to being a charter member of the Urban Lacrosse Alliance (ULA), which pulls together like-minded organizations dedicated to expanding lacrosse opportunities for urban youth. US Lacrosse will partner with the ULA’s other member organizations to grow the game through shared strategies and the exchange of best practices.
US Lacrosse joins MetroLacrosse (Boston), City Lax Denver, Blax Lax (Baltimore), Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership (New York), Winners (Washington, D.C.), Charm City Lacrosse (Baltimore), OWLS (Chicago), Philly (Pa.) Select, 13th Girl (Baltimore), BRIDGE Dallas, PG Pride (Maryland), Next One Up (Baltimore) and Oakland (Calif.) Lacrosse in this initiative.
“One of the primary benefits of having the Urban Lacrosse Alliance is the structure that it provides for each of our organizations to connect and network with each other,” said Eboni Preston, associate director of diversity and inclusion at US Lacrosse. “As the national governing body, we’re excited to be able to gather the input and advice of these organizations to better understand how we can support and partner with them in the future.”
Some of the preliminary priorities that have been established by the ULA include facilitating an exchange of successful strategies from each program, developing guidelines for coaches and program administrators to help enhance on-field instruction for participants, improving administrative practices through shared knowledge and best practices, and fostering the development of greater leadership skills among program administrators.
US Lacrosse has committed to serving in a number of roles in support of the ULA, including as host of monthly conference calls among the members, as the provider of a forum for program development, and as a facilitator of online resource sharing.
By agreement, the group’s membership roster will be limited to 15 active members, with adjustments made annually based on the recommendations of the current member organizations.
“Ultimately, we hope that we will learn a great deal about some of the successful strategies these organizations are employing on the grassroots level, while at the same time making them all aware of some of the resource opportunities, such as the First Stick Program or Soft-Stick Lacrosse Grants, that we provide as the national governing body,” Preston said.
About US Lacrosse
US Lacrosse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, is the national governing body of men’s and women’s lacrosse and the home of the nation’s fastest-growing sport. US Lacrosse has more than 415,000 members in 67 regional chapters across the country. Through responsive and effective leadership, US Lacrosse provides programs and services to inspire participation while protecting the integrity of the sport. Bookmark, like and follow US Lacrosse at uslacrosse.org, fb.com/uslacrosse and@uslacrosse, respectively.
About the Urban Lacrosse Alliance
The Urban Lacrosse Alliance (ULA) was formed to help provide urban lacrosse leaders and advocates with the opportunity, guidance and voice to further advance their administrative strengths, content and strategies. The vision for this alliance is to have representation and collaboration from a diverse group of urban youth teams and organizations from around the country, believing that each program can benefit from an open forum where ideas and tactics can flow freely in order to maximize sustainability efforts in each urban lacrosse program.
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