Grove City Messenger - June 12th, 2022

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June 12, 2022 - GROVE CITY MESSENGER - PAGE 7
Grove City Kids Association is offering lacrosse.
GCKA is going for growth
By Christine Bryant
Staff Writer
Now recognized as one of the fastest
growing sports in America, lacrosse is
expanding in Grove City in an effort to get
more youth involved.
Currently in the first year of offering
lacrosse, the Grove City Kids Association is
working to increase awareness about the
sport that combines basketball, soccer and
hockey.
Jason Wright, the lacrosse commissioner
and board member for the GCKA, says
the Grove City Lacrosse Club approached
the organization with an opportunity to
help grow lacrosse in youth programs.
“The club has been in existence for
almost seven years,” Wright said.
“Together, we felt that with GCKA’s existing
database of kids within this age group,
we were uniquely positioned to help grow
the sport. After all, we already work with
kids in this age group for softball, soccer,
football and cheerleading.”
The GCKA features two divisions of
play for youth in the area. The first, the
Junior division, is made up of kids in 3rd
and 4th grades. The Senior division is
made up of youth in grades 5 and 6.
“This year we have one team in each
division where the kids play coed,” Wright
said. “In the future we would love to have
both a boys and a girls team in each division.”
As a parent of a child who recently
picked up lacrosse, Wright says he has
seen firsthand how the sport helps develop
kids.
“They not only get exercise, which I
think all kids need, but they also learn
about leadership and teamwork,” he said.
“This is a sport that is very difficult for one
person to dominate.”
The rules in the youth game center on
teaching the fundamentals of the game, as
well as require the kids to pass the ball
once over midfield in order to become “hot”
or be able to take a shot.
“This forces the kids to communicate
and work to get open so that they can make
that pass before heading to the goal,”
Wright said. “The kids also have to communicate
on defense, talking about when
someone is hot and when someone is cutting
so the other defenders know to look
out for them.”
The sport also brings together all of the
things he says his son loves in sports.
“It brought the fast-paced thinking that
is required when playing defense in basketball
and combined that with a little hitting
like football,” Wright said. “Add in some
insane speed with kids running up and
down the field with precision passing like
you were going to throw a kid out in baseball,
and you have a sport that just about
anyone can pick up in just a few minutes
and find some aspect of the game that they
just love.”
Players at this level practice three to
four times a week for about 60 to 90 minutes,
Wright said. Games are held on
Sunday and are in a round-robin format.
“Teams are made up of participants in
the Central Ohio Youth Lacrosse League,
which features teams from Gahanna,
Hilliard, New Albany, Granville, Jonathan
Alder and Bexley, amongst others,” Wright
said.
Not only is the game fast-paced for the
players, it’s exciting to watch for spectators,
he says.
“Unlike some sports that move at a
slower pace, something is always going on
in lacrosse,” Wright said. “If you look away
for a minute, you might just miss something.”
While playing lacrosse can be costly
because of the equipment required to play
the sport, Wright says they are looking at
ways to reduce the costs for families.
“Grove City Lacrosse was able to come
in and offer kids loaner elbow pads, gloves,
sticks and rental helmets to keep the cost
down for the youth program,” Wright said.
As the program grows, Wright says the
GCKA plans to look into grants from USA
Lacrosse and other means of funding the
lacrosse program such as donations or
sponsorships.
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