How Jim Potter’s Passion for Lacrosse Became a Lifelong Gift to the Game

Jim Potter made his mark repeatedly throughout his lacrosse career, one that started at the Gilman School in Baltimore. He earned All-America honors twice at the University of Virginia, where the Cavaliers shared the USILA National Championship with Johns Hopkins and Navy his senior year in 1970.

That wasn’t the end of the lacrosse career for the former Virginia captain.

“There was no such thing as pro lacrosse, so you were playing club lacrosse and just having a blast – having a great time playing with the guys,” Potter said.

He was honored at the Hero’s Club Player of the Year in 1972 and 1973 and went on to serve as a captain for the 1974 U.S. men’s team that won a world championship in Australia, the first championship hosted by the International Lacrosse Federation – one of the organizations that led to the formation of what’s now known as World Lacrosse.

You can still find him slinging a lacrosse ball around these days, but his contributions to the sport go way deeper than what he’s done while cradling a lacrosse stick.

Two former Virginia players – Jim Grieves and Bo Moore – got him involved with the Lacrosse Foundation, an organization that was initially launched to create the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

“They just said you’ve got to be involved with this,” Potter recalled. “There were people that were much more interested in the Hall of Fame side of things, but we saw the potential for chapters and just creating more opportunities for kids playing the sport. It all panned out in so many positive ways.”

Potter is a big reason that it has panned out in so many ways. He went on to serve as both a vice president and president of the Lacrosse Foundation, and was heavily involved in all of the work that went into the formation of USA Lacrosse in 1998, a merger of many of the largest organizations in the sport, including the Lacrosse Foundation. The shared vision by those lacrosse leaders helped spark the biggest growth spurt in the sport’s history.

Potter himself was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, but it was his spirit of building from the ground up that guided his approach as a volunteer. He wasn’t content to simply lend his name to a cause—he rolled up his sleeves and got involved. 

“I was so involved as a volunteer and I was the one asking for money,” he said. “We set up annual giving back when we were making phone calls every year. The hardest part of fundraising is getting that first dollar from someone and then it’s easier to ask for the next year – how about adding 10 percent or doubling it or something like that. That’s part of the deal when you’re a nonprofit – you’ve got to look for it every place you can.”

Now, with the same forward-thinking mindset that drove his playing and volunteer career, Potter has made a legacy gift – an enduring investment in the sport’s future – as a member of USA Lacrosse’s Webb Legacy Society.

“Legacy gifts are hugely important and of course some ways are easier than others to accomplish,” he said. 

Potter’s gift is actually an extension of the charitable works of his mother, who set up a charitable remainder trust for Potter and his two sisters. In addition to providing income to the family, the trust has grown over time and Potter has designated USA Lacrosse and two other charities as his beneficiaries when he dies.

For Potter, it’s a natural extension of a lifelong commitment to the game and the people who play it.

Whether on the field, in the community, or through philanthropy, Potter’s legacy is defined by giving back. His contributions have not only strengthened the sport’s foundation today but also set the stage for its continued growth tomorrow.

The Webb Legacy Society

A standout goalie at Gilman School in Baltimore in the late 1950s and the US Military Academy in the 1960s, A. Norman Webb Jr. shared the sport everywhere he went, helping new players and starting new teams. He became known as the "Godfather of San Diego Lacrosse."

When Norm drew up his will, true to these beliefs, he gave nearly his entire estate to USA Lacrosse. His gift was transformational, serving as the catalyst for the creation of the new USA Lacrosse national headquarters in Sparks, Md.

The A. Norman Webb Jr. Legacy Society honors Norm's historic bequest and recognizes those who follow in his example of leadership by making a planned gift to USA Lacrosse Foundation.

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