Troy Lacrosse Team Trades Sticks for Sponges

Participation in high school seasonal sports involves a yearlong commitment. It even means pulling out a bucket and power washer and tackling a line of dirty cars for the cause, as the boys lacrosse team did recently.

The boys junior varsity and varsity lacrosse teams raised about $3,700 through the fund-raiser, which supplements extra coaching costs, training fees, equipment and the end-of-year banquet.

It also serves as a unifier for the team members, said varsity coach Towbey Kassa, who led his team in a 4-15 effort this season. “A big benefit is that kids are getting together for a good cause,” Kassa said.”They’re not practicing; they don’t have sticks in their hands. They’re just enjoying team unity.”

Becoming a winning team requires focus throughout the year, whether through practice and special camps during the summer or through fundraising efforts,  Kassa told athletes and parents at the program's recent annual banquet ceremony at the

With budget cuts affecting many high school sports programs these days, teams are challenged with raising funds for general activities and special coaching sessions.

This is especially true with lacrosse, which isn’t quite on everyone’s radar, said Troy junior varsity coach Shaun Leahey, whose team had a 11-5 record this year. “Interest in the sport is growing, though,” said Leahey, a Clawson resident.

Kassa added: “Doing things off-season costs money and sometimes families aren’t always able to afford certain programs. These fundraisers help to cut some of those costs.”

Kassa played lacrosse for Troy High School and also for Oakland University. Along with his post at Troy High, he is a women’s lacrosse coach at Oakland University. 

Leahey played four years of lacrosse at and four years for Michigan State University. He also was an assistant coach at MSU. Besides coaching Troy High’s JV team, Leahey is a quality assurance engineer for General Dynamics Land Systems.

‘Under the hood’ of a high school car wash

John Darish, whose son, Jay, a freshman, was pulled up from JV to the varsity team late in the just-finished season, hauled his power washer out to the recent Saturday-morning car wash with a big smile on his face.

“I bought the power washer for like $300 at Home Depot, and if you use the 40-degree nozzle, it disperses water nicely and won’t ruin a car’s paint surface,” Darish said.

Team members sold tickets weeks before at $5 per wash. On “wash day,” they gathered in the school’s circle driveway along Northfield Parkway, which runs along the high school grounds, with sponges in hand, working different shifts throughout the day. Parents donated bagels and snacks for the boys, as well as gasoline for the power washer. 

“It’s tough to run a team in this economy,” Darish said. “Lacrosse is like a three-month season and we need to start doing things off-season as well, or we’ll get passed by.”    

Darish said he is pleased with the direction of the Troy lacrosse program, but that it takes fundraising to get even better. 

“The JV team record this past season was fantastic and the varsity team shows signs of building a great foundation and future for the next couple years," he said.

Darish said that fundraisers such as the car wash allow kids to get totally involved in the process.

“One player went to Kroger and sold $100 worth of car wash tickets in one hour," he said. Many boys knocked on neighbors’ doors to see if they would like to purchase tickets.

Cathy Kondoleon helped to run the car wash and ran several volunteer activities over the past year for the Troy High lacrosse program. Her son, Nick, will be a senior this fall on the team, while another son graduated from the program three years ago. 

“And I’ve got one who’s coming up,” she said, referring to her 11-year-old son, who plays for a league team, the Warriors, in Birmingham.  

“I’m one of many parents who are very much interested in continuing to develop the program,” said Kondoleon. “We are fortunate to have a wealth of parent support.

“One parent who was getting his car washed even took photos that day of the boys washing the cars and then posted them on Facebook instantly, encouraging more people to come and get their cars washed.” 

Kondoleon said that funds often go toward dome-rental space. “We start playing in March and in Michigan, we can’t always play outside, so we need to rent space,” she said.

Proceeds also go toward hiring special coaches for summer clinics and to send coaches to conferences to learn about drills and strategies, Leahey said.

“Lacrosse isn’t a money maker, and we don’t get a lot of fans,” he said. “But that is changing."

The University of Michigan recently announced that its men’s lacrosse will be a Division I NCAA sport for the 2011-2012 season, Leahy pointed out. University of Detroit Mercy also is Division I. “Since I started playing 15 years ago, interest has grown a ton," Leahey said.

Future fundraising ideas are on tap, including a possible can drive and bowling outing.