Sport and Service

Lacrosse teams engage the community

March 4, 2008

Members of the men's lacrosse team volunteered in New Mexico during their winter break.

For the last couple of years, the men's and women's lacrosse teams at Dickinson have been busy on and off the field as athletes and philanthropists. Most recently, men's lacrosse coach David Webster '88 and his team traveled to Albuquerque, N.M., for a service trip.

"We've made a commitment as a team for community-service projects in Carlisle and beyond," says Webster.

While there, the team taught students at the newly founded Native American Community Academy how to play lacrosse, a sport with Native American origins.

"I gained a different perspective from teaching these students," says Scott Sporn '08, who has played on the team for three years. "[It] brought the whole team together … Being involved makes you realize how special your team is."

When not teaching the youngsters how to scoop, shoot and pass, the team also planted trees along the Rio Grande, helping to make a walkway and garden area at the academy.

The trip to New Mexico followed two other recent community-service ventures for the men's team. Last fall's Volleyball-A-Thon on the campus' newly built outdoor volleyball court raised funds for the Cumberland County Chapter of the American Red Cross. Two years ago, the team traveled to Carlisle, La., for a service trip in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

While in Louisiana, the team organized and cleaned a donated-goods warehouse, assisted the elderly by clearing debris from their homes and helped businesses clean their buildings.

On campus, the women's lacrosse team has been busy as well. Following the death of Stephanie Kreiner '03 three years ago, the team helped create the Run for Steph, an annual 5K run/2-mile walk. With the help of the field hockey team, the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and the biology department, the run raises money for Dickinson's McAndrews Fund for Athletics and keeps Kreiner's memory alive. Participants sign pledges to not drink and drive, and last year's event raised $3,042.

Four years running, the women’s team has participated in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk, which raises money for cancer research. In 2007, the team raised more than $2,500 dollars. The team also seeks to raise awareness about domestic violence by participating in National Denim Day and holding a fashion show to raise money for the cause.

The efforts of this stellar team were recognized last year when they received the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Team Community Awareness Award.