Do you know what the fastest growing sport in America is?
Most people would quickly say, “Soccer!” Especially after a record-breaking engagement in the World Cup, soccer is commonly spoken to be the future of youth sports.
However, there is one sport that surpasses them all—lacrosse—and soccer’s not even close!
The latest US Lacrosse Participation Survey shows that youth participation of lacrosse has been growing off the charts and topped 400,000 for the first time this year. Along with youth programming, the survey states that “60 new NCAA varsity programs were added in 2013, including eight new NCAA Division I programs.”
At Kids in the Game, we are always looking for new ways to engage the children of New York City. This spring, US Lacrosse awarded us a Soft-Stick Lacrosse Grant which provided equipment, resources, and training for us to incorporate lacrosse into our programming throughout the city. With this equipment, we have taken on a number of new endeavors, including teaching lacrosse during summer camp, afterschool group lessons, private lessons, and community events.
This fall, Kids in the Game is a sponsor for the 2nd Annual Kid-A-Thon, held at The School of the Blessed Sacrament on the Upper West Side. We will be providing lacrosse coaches for the day to teach the kids about the sport of lacrosse and organizing games and stations.
Melody Speaker, co-chair of this year’s Kid-A-Thon, was enthusiastic that the kids will be exposed to a new and unique sport:
“We are very excited to have Kids in the Game lacrosse instructors at the Kid-A-Thon event this year. We have not had lacrosse instructors at the event in the past, therefore most of the kids at our school have never seen the sport or been given the opportunity to play it. This sponsorship will allow our kids an entirely new experience and we are excited for the kids to learn from talented instructors.”
As Kids in the Game looks into the upcoming school year, we see lacrosse as one of our largest growing programs. We have experienced a lot of positive feedback from schools about the integration of lacrosse programming into recess and afterschool sports instruction. Be on the lookout for camps and clinics throughout the fall, and feel free to email us for information on setting up private lessons with one of our instructors.