Millburn-Short Hills Lacrosse Club Spring 2020 Registration Opens

With a successful fall season well underway, the Millburn-Short Hills Lacrosse Club, Inc. has opened registration for the spring 2020 season as of October 1st.

"This year we held the inaugural season of our in-town fall box league together with an expanded fall tournament program for boys and girls," said Jonathan Justice, Executive Director of the Millburn-Short Hills Lacrosse Club (MSHLAX). "Response was overwhelming with nearly 225 boys and girls signed up for box, the tournament schedule or both." Justice added that the program's success this fall was due to the efforts of long-time program director, Charlie Dwyer, for securing netting around the Gero hockey court where all box games are held. In addition, Justice said, "We were also fortunate to have our Millburn High School girls and boys coaches, led by Alexandra Gartenberg and Brian Stromko, lead the coaching efforts for our fall travel tournament teams."

Last spring, the Club had nearly 450 players among the girls and boys teams. "This year we're adding a co-ed, kindergarten 'sticks only' clinic, and we will have teams for girls and boys from 1st grade through 8th grade." Justice noted that not only is lacrosse the fastest growing sport in the United States, but also is the fastest growing sport in Millburn Township. "The key to our success has been a combination of parent volunteers, highly-qualified instruction from our Millburn High School coaches in the off-season, and most importantly the enthusiasm and dedication of these young athletes."

This year the lacrosse club will benefit from the availability of a new turf field at the Millburn Library and continued involvement of a nearly all-volunteer coaching staff. "Most people think, 'Well, it's a township club, so how good could the coaching be?' But the fact is that nearly all of our coaches played lacrosse competitively through college, some still play in adult leagues and others even have prior paid coaching experience," said Justice. "We're blessed to have a top-notch staff of volunteer and paid coaches as well as a Board that runs a tight ship." Justice went on to add that MSHLAX is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization and that, other than paid professional coaches, none of the Board members or parent-coaches receive any compensation for their efforts.

Parents interested in learning more about MSHLAX, its programs or the spring registration can visit www.mshlax.org, or they can go directly to the MSHLAX registration site hosted by TeamSnap.