FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJuly 19, 2018
NETANYA, ISRAEL – The Balls-Cockerton-Hays Youth Lacrosse Development Clinic attracted 120 Israeli youth for a three-day clinic being held in conjunction with the 2018 FIL Men’s World Championship at Wingate Sport Institute. The youth initiative started last year in England at the FIL Women’s World Cup in England.
The youth clinic provides an introduction to the sport of lacrosse with basic fundamentals, skills and drills with in-game situations. This is the fourth BCH Youth Clinic conducte in the last year. FIL will continue to identify locations for the clinics throughout the world. Member countries who are interested in hosting a BCH Youth Clinic can submit an application for review.
“What we have seen with most of our countries is that lacrosse has grown from the top down,” said Stan Cockerton, one of the founders of the BCH Youth Lacrosse Development Clinic. “What we are trying to do with the youth program is to get a foundation built like programs in the United States, Canada and England. We want to get a youth program for sustainability and development. We want to get the youth of the world in love with lacrosse.”
Israel, who has approximately 1,000 athletes participating in lacrosse, felt this was a perfect opportunity to increase youth participation in the sport with a three-day clinic and watching the best athletes in the world from 46 teams participate for a World Championship title. The BCH Youth Lacrosse Development Clinic concludes on Friday, July 20, allowing the 120 participants an opportunity to watch the placement games at Wingate Sport Institute.
The participants range in all levels of development. There is a group of participants who have never seen a lacrosse stick, and there is a Under-15 team that is attending to learn more about the sport.
The BCH FIL Youth Lacrosse Development Grants will be primarily for Youth Development Programs covering the age range of 4 – 16 years old and at the discretion of the FIL Development Committee. The grants are available to FIL Members, Emerging Members and the FIL Development Committee, up to a maximum of $10,000 USD, based on the number of successful applications.Continue to check the FIL website for the application process for 2019 BCH Youth Lacrosse Development Clinics. Applications can be found by clicking here.
