For one weekend each year, the seaside community of Santa Barbara, located on the central California coast, becomes the epicenter of lacrosse as women’s collegiate club teams from around the country arrive for three days of sun, fun and intense competition.

Joe Barnett’s involvement as a youth coach with Columbia Youth Lacrosse (CYL) started quite innocently. He had brought his two young daughters to an introductory clinic and noticed that the coach had a bigger turnout than she expected.

“I could tell that she was kind of underwater, so I simply said, ‘can I help’ and then I was coaching,” Barnett said. “I just can’t stay away. It’s in my DNA to want to help and interact. Maybe it’s because when I see one coach trying to help kids, I know that one person can never do it all.”

USA Lacrosse recently launched one of its newest membership initiatives, hosting growth summits in New Jersey and Texas targeted to regional youth lacrosse leaders. The one-day summits are designed to bring together key stakeholders – coaches, parents, and program leaders - in each region to broadly discuss strategies that support the responsible growth of the game.

As a young athlete, Rich Thomson played six different sports through his middle school and high school years. Lacrosse was not one of them.

He didn’t discover the Creator’s Game until adulthood, but it’s now a passion. As evidence, Thomson has co-founded two separate youth leagues in Wisconsin over the past 10 years.

Motivated initially by his young daughter’s interest in the game, Thomson helped launch the Kimberly Area Lacrosse Association in 2016. The youth program serves both boys and girls, and has added high school varsity and JV squads in recent years.

The community of Port Washington, located on the North Shore of Long Island, understands the important role that athletics can play in shaping the development of its youth.

Since 1963, the Port Washington Youth Activities (PYA) organization has played a central role in providing year-round playing opportunities for local youth, with sports offerings ranging from baseball to wrestling, from field hockey to lacrosse.

Melody Sauceda understands the plight of the underserved. Growing up as a Native American who is Ma-chis Lower Creek, Apache and Mexican, she had personal experience as a kid who didn’t always feel like she belonged.

Now living in Sante Fe, New Mexico, she didn’t want that same ‘outside looking in’ experience for her two high school-aged daughters as well as other Native youth who were drawn to lacrosse.

“When my kids came home one day and they said they wanted to join lacrosse, I said ‘you guys do know that's an Indigenous sport, right?’” 

Kyle Michelsen is a native of Kaufman, Texas, a rural community located 30 miles southeast of Dallas. It’s where he was born, where he grew up, and where he returned to be a middle school teacher after graduating from Tarleton State University in 2017.

It was also in this small Texas community that Michelsen initially discovered the game of lacrosse as a youth, and now, the place he is hoping that he can help other kids do the same thing.

In conjunction with this year’s National Celebrate Lacrosse Week, USA Lacrosse is proudly recognizing volunteers from across the country who are helping to grow the game on the grass roots level. Each day, we will profile someone who makes a positive difference in their community. Join us as we celebrate local lacrosse heroes from coast-to-coast. 
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Name: Scott Rossi 
Local Lacrosse Organization: Berlin Youth Lacrosse 
Location: Berlin, Connecticut

In conjunction with this year’s National Celebrate Lacrosse Week, USA Lacrosse is proudly recognizing volunteers from across the country who are helping to grow the game on the grass roots level. Each day, we will profile someone who makes a positive difference in their community. Join us as we celebrate local lacrosse heroes from coast-to-coast.  
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Name: Alex Johnson  
Local Lacrosse Organization: Blaine Youth Lacrosse  
Location: Blaine, Minnesota

In conjunction with this year’s National Celebrate Lacrosse Week, USA Lacrosse is proudly recognizing volunteers from across the country who are helping to grow the game on the grass roots level. Each day, we will profile someone who makes a positive difference in their community. Join us as we honor local lacrosse heroes from coast-to-coast.  
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Name: Heather Tabisola  
Local Lacrosse Organization: Northshore Girls’ Lacrosse  
Location: Bothell, Washington