By: Mark Wasik
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KENNESAW, Ga. – Kennesaw State women's lacrosse found a way to both give back to the local community this past weekend as well as help spread the sport of lacrosse, as the Owls teamed up with USA Lacrosse and the City of Acworth to host their first-ever Adaptive Lacrosse Clinic on Sunday at the Acworth Sports Complex.
The clinic, which was run by the KSU coaching staff and players along with assistance from Lou Corsetti from USA Lacrosse, was attended by over 30 athletes, ranging in ages from 6-35. The goal of the program was to make lacrosse accessible to all participants and create opportunities for those with physical and mental disabilities.
It was run in association with the Horizon League, a program with the Acworth Recreation Department to provide children and young adults with development and physical disabilities the opportunity to participate in athletics events to help create an environment of inclusion for the participants and their families.
"We've worked with the city of Acworth and Lauren Hamm before in volunteering with the Horizon League," said KSU head coach
Laura Maness. "Lauren came to us recently looking for another option that they can offer, and US Lacrosse has been pushing out an initiative recently on increasing the opportunism for adaptive lacrosse, so it was perfect timing for all of us."
USA Lacrosse's goal with adaptive lacrosse is to give athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities an enjoyable lacrosse experience that is active, exciting, and most importantly, fun. Corsetti, a regional director with USA Lacrosse, designed the clinic and the drills and was able to teach the KSU players and staff on how to implement them with the adaptive clinic participants.
"All involved were so excited to have this opportunity," Maness said. "To have over 30 participants in a clinic like this is an amazing turnout, and we got the chance to promote the sport of lacrosse as well. But most importantly, we kept having parents tell us how happy they were for this, they've been frustrated with so many opportunities shut down by Covid the past two years. To not only have the chance for another activity like this, but one they could also see their kids learn something different, it really meant a lot of all of us."
Maness could also tell what it meant to her players, as they always enjoy the time to share the sport they love. They were able to teach a variety of lacrosse skills including cradling, ground ball pickups and shooting in an energetic environment, while also serving as playing buddies for each participant. For this chance to teach lacrosse to a group that might have limited opportunities, it meant ever more to see how much job it brought to them.
Maness is hopeful the turnout will lead to more introductory clinics and potentially an adaptive league as well.
More information on adaptive lacrosse is available
here.
