Stamford celebrates National Play Lacrosse Day with clinic for kids
Lacrosse continues to be one of Stamford’s fastest growing youth sports. The game has seen a steady increase in participation the last two years and an event to get even more kids involved was held this past weekend.
The Stamford Lacrosse Association teamed up with USA Lacrosse for the National Play Lacrosse Day on Nov. 5. The day was made possible through a partnership between Stamford’s travel and house lacrosse programs and the Stamford Boys and Girls Club and was intended to introduce the game to new kids.
“The Stamford Lacrosse Association was excited about the opportunity to partner with USA
Lacrosse in hosting a clinic at the Stamford Boys and Girls Club as part of the National Celebrate Lacrosse Week festivities, that took place across the country,” Stamford Lacrosse Association President Al Tornatore said. “Our organizations were both thrilled to introduce what the lacrosse community calls ‘the creators game’ to our local kids that wouldn’t otherwise learn about the game. We hope they join our local program this spring as we continue to grow a 15-yearold program that started with 60 kids and now has over 300 boys and girls grades K through eight.”
There were over 30 kids participating in the free clinic and each player was given a lacrosse stick as a gift for participating.
Stamford High boys lacrosse
head coach Mike Nazzaro volunteered at the clinic along with assistant coach Rob Lewis, Ralph Boynton from the Stamford boys team and Alice Peters from the Stamford girls lacrosse team.
“Through local donations and families, we handed out sticks to players who come from all areas of the city. It was a great event and we look forward to doing more like it,” Nazzaro said. “Giving back and growing the game in our city is a full-time job and we are passionate about it. More and more athletes from sports like football and basketball have found themselves very successful, very quickly in this fast-paced environment.”
This past spring was a year of firsts for both the Stamford High girls and boys lacrosse teams.
The girls team qualified for the FCIAC playoffs for the first time, then two weeks later won the school’s first girls CIAC Class L state lacrosse game against South Windsor.
The Stamford boys also won their first ever state tournament game over Conard. The Westhill boys also qualified for the CIAC Class L tournament.
Both Stamford and
Westhill field varsity, JV and freshmen teams with most of their players coming from the Stamford Youth Lacrosse program.
The Stamford boys had 14 sophomores and nine juniors on the team as it builds its numbers back up after a drop following the lost season due to Covid-19.
“We had a drop in participation at the high school after Covid, but these young kids now were playing in middle school and many of them started in fourth grade before Covid. What we are seeing is a product of that,” Nazzaro said. “They kept playing in the Stamford Lacrosse Association and in the summer in CT City Lacrosse and hopefully that keeps helping the varsity teams get better.”