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Sports

Boys & Girls Club Readies Fall Line-Up, Lacrosse Included

The College Park Boys & Girls Club will once again organize fall sports, this year with the addition of lacrosse.

Summer is winding down, and while children may groan at the impending start of another school year, the declining outdoor temperature is also concurrent with an event that brings smiles to those same kids: the start of fall recreational sports.

The College Park Boys & Girls Club is set, as they are each fall, to host a number of sporting leagues, including one which is brand new to the fall lineup this year: lacrosse.

According to Joan Keller, the treasurer of the club, sports planned for this fall include soccer, cheerleading, baseball and lacrosse. Last spring marked the first time that the College Park Boys & Girls Club featured lacrosse. This coming season will be the sport's first appearance in the fall lineup, provided enough kids register to fill out the four age brackets.

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Registration for soccer will begin in early to mid-September. Other sports will follow shortly thereafter on the condition that there is enough interest within the community.

"We're trying to rejuvenate some sports," Keller said. "We would like to have multiple teams per age group like we did in the past. Soccer continues to grow every year, but that's not the case with every sport."

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Lacrosse leagues are currently planned for both boys and girls with teams designated for children between the ages of 7 and 14.

According to Stacey Morrison, who along with her husband Tim will be the commissioner of the boys league this year, there will be an under-9 team called the Bantams, an under-11 team called the Pee-Wees, an under-13 team called the Midgets and an under-15 team called the Juniors. The teams from College Park are currently scheduled to play teams from nine surrounding communities.

Although brand new to the College Park recreational scene, Morrison is confident that the lacrosse league will be a success.

"Lacrosse is such an amazing sport," she said. "I can see why it's getting so popular in this area. Once a kid picks up the lacrosse stick, they're sold. It's all they want to do."

Aside from the appeal of the sport itself, Morrison is certain that the design of the league will satisfy the kids who participate.

"When you play for a College Park team, the great thing is that you don't have 30 kids on each team trying to get on the field, so you will be able to play almost the whole game. We also have great coaches, most of whom don't even have a kid on the team," she said. "They're just coming out and volunteering their time because they love lacrosse."

Although currently planned for the fall, there is a possibility that the lacrosse league will not officially begin until November. Should that be the case, an indoor playing facility would need to be secured.

If the push-back were to occur, Morrison plans for several instructional lacrosse clinics to take place in the community in the meantime to prepare local kids for the season. These clinics would likely be located at Duvall Field, where the spring season was held.

According to Keller, these potential clinics would not be the only non-league-affiliated events to occur this fall. The Boys & Girls Club traditionally puts on events throughout the season outside of the sports leagues.

In the past, the club has hosted Halloween parties and other family nights. A 2010 Halloween party may be in the works, but nothing is set in stone as of yet.

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