Bears Host Youth Clinic

Following a 13-9 Ivy League thriller against Yale last Saturday, the Brown Men's Lacrosse team took time out for a youth lacrosse clinic. On the field with more than 20 future lacrosse stars between the ages of 8-12, the Bears taught shooting, defensive positioning and even took time to sign autographs and give away their old sticks.

For the Bears, reaching out to the youth is nothing new. One of Brown's primary community service projects is a partnership with the Brown/Fox Point Early Education Center where they spend time with young students in the classroom.  

"I really liked the clinic because its always nice to give back to the community and it's great to help kids get better at the sport that I love," said sophomore and Brown leading scorer Andrew Feinberg. "I feel like the kids were really interested to what the Brown Lacrosse players had to say and attempted to fix the mistakes that we were trying to correct."

Despite the blustery weather, the turnout was even better than expected. After getting warmed up with passing and shooting, the youth and the Brown players came together for a welcoming by Brown Assistant Coach David Evans. Then, they broke up by positions with attack, midfield, defense and goalies.

The attackmen worked on shooting and dodging from behind, the midfielders worked on shooting from up top and dodging down the sides for a shot and the defense worked on proper positioning. According to Feinberg, reaching out to the youth is also a way to improve the sport as a whole.

"It's always nice teaching younger kids how to play lacrosse because it's nice to think that their generation might be able to change the sport of lacrosse and make it bigger," said Feinberg.

The clinic was not all about basic drills and technique. The Bears found ways to make the game exciting for the young players.

"Thomas Muldoon actually did a really fun drill where the attackmen had to make a diving shot," said goal

ie Jordan Burke. "They loved it."

Burke joined fellow goaltenders Matt Chriss and Noah Beattie in instructing just the goalies. Fortunately for the youth, there were only two of them.

"They got to have a lot of attention, which they seemed to love," said Burke. "We warmed them up, worked on their stance, positioning and technique."

Senior Brady Williams said that he understands the impact such clinics can have on kids from personal experience.

"I remember being a kid at clinics and watching college lacrosse games and being so excited to meet and work with some current college players," said senior Brady Williams. "I have had a wonderful experience at Brown and am happy to give back and help some of the local kids who want to play lacrosse."

Williams added that participating in a sport is about more than just improving your athletic skills.

"I think that it's a great way for kids to learn social skills that will ultimately translate to everyday life," said Williams. "Values such as teamwork, commitment and sportsmanship are qualities that are evident in the social world."