A lacrosse program has been a big hit among kids in New Westminster elementary schools.
The New Westminster Minor Lacrosse Association partnered with New Westminster Parks, Culture and Recreation and the school district to teach kids a few of the finer points of Canada’s national summer sport. In recent weeks, many elementary school students in New Westminster have had a couple of shots at learning lacrosse through the program.
“The kids had a blast,” said Paul Manville, vice principal of John Robson Elementary School. “Every kid had access to it.”
Manville, who taught skating for the City of New Westminster while attending university before becoming a teacher, said parks and recreation employees have a knack for teaching kids sports in a way that’s engaging and fun.
“It’s about experiencing lacrosse, but it was lots of games and activities that really bridge the gap for kids. You are trying to teach them skills that take quite a while to develop. It’s not something you pick up right away,” he said about lacrosse. “In order to make it something that they want to do, you have to make it fun, you have to make it something they can engage in right away. They would have all kinds of inventive ways to play little games that involved the sticks but it wasn’t necessarily so skill based.”
Two or three instructors would visit one school for a week, offering the program during the classes’ existing gym schedules.
“By doing it for the week, most kids in New West will get down to the gym for two periods,” Manville told The Record. “They’ll have two shots at it.”
While students developed some lacrosse skills during the classes, they also had a lot of fun.
“I was down there pretty much everyday, checking in and interacting with the kids a bit. They had a blast. I know every school says the same thing. They all loved it,” Manville said. “The kids really, really enjoyed it. It’s a unique opportunity in that they get to play lacrosse.”
Some elementary schools’ gyms may have plastic lacrosse sticks, but the lacrosse association brought in some real sticks that it had purchased a couple of years earlier when offering week-long programs it did at a couple of elementary schools.
Manville approached the lacrosse association about offering a similar program again this year, and as luck would have it, the group’s executive had been discussing the issue and wanted to do something in celebration of the Salmonbellies’ 125th anniversary in 2014.
“The Salmonbellies will be celebrating 125 years of lacrosse history in 2014. NWMLA is looking to promote the game of lacrosse and show the kids of New West that the spirit of lacrosse lives on in New West, and is accessible to all youth who have passion for the game,” said a statement from the lacrosse association. “Lacrosse is Canada’s national summer sport and is considered the fastest game on two feet. New Westminster has a long standing heritage and reputation in the game of lacrosse, and the New Westminster Minor Lacrosse Association is excited to offer the youth of New Westminster a positive and safe recreational choice.”
New Westminster Minor Lacrosse Association received a grant from the city’s amateur sports fund to help offer the program.
“I think it was probably more than would allow it to be done on a yearly basis – I don’t know the final tab but it wasn’t cheap,” Manville said. “It’s probably not something we will see yearly but I am sure it will be something we see again.”
Manville was impressed with how well the minor lacrosse association, parks and recreation, and the schools worked together to make the program such a hit.
Manville grew up in New Westminster, as did Julie Duncan, who coordinated the project for the city, and Darren Flintoff, president of New Westminster Minor Lacrosse Association, and they all shared a vision for the program that was offered in all of the city’s elementary schools.
“New West has such a culture – it felt like everything came together,” Manville said. “It was really neat to see that happen where lacrosse was involved, parks and recreation was involved, the schools were involved. To me, that is just what New West is.”
