Kids Say Thanks To Lacrosse Program Founder

When Mahwah resident Bruce Blake read an article about the up-and-coming nature of high school and college lacrosse in an NCAA magazine during the winter of 2003, he wondered why a youth program was not in place in Mahwah.

Not even eight years later, the graduating high school seniors who have played in the league throughout their educational careers, presented Blake with a plaque of appreciation earlier this month.

The group spoke about how their coach not only taught them about the sport, but about important life lessons that they are happy to move forward with.

“It was an incredible plaque and such a nice thing for them to do,” Blake, who began the program in Mahwah in the fall of 2004, said.

“My son had just played the game in another league and he had such a positive experience, I thought it would be a good thing to bring to the town,” Blake said.

“So, I approached the town and worked with them to set up a couple of youth clinics in June 2003.”

Though Bruce and the other organizers expected a low turnout as the program was new and “last minute,” over 100 kids attended each night.

“Right there, we could see there was really interest in this, and we started a league for fourth, fifth and sixth grade boys, and sixth grade girls in 2004,” he said.

Every year after that, the league added one more grade to the program, with kindergarten, first and second grade clinics scheduled to begin next spring.

This year, 400 youth players and 100 high schoolers were involved in the program.

“Knowing that eight years ago we had nothing, and looking at all of the kids who are involved now, it’s just great seeing that,” Blake said.

“There’s a group of us who really have been in this since the beginning – Charlie Sperra, Peter Kane, Brian Callahan, Bill Naslonski and Kenny Ebly. And we’ve been lucky to have the support of the town and [Superintendent] Dr. Montesano. It’s really been great.”

“This year, from our first graduating class we had a bunch of players continuing to play lacrosse in college, and they just love it,” Blake said.

“For me, it’s a great thing to see happen.”