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Lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country and a new youth camp has come to Bayside, hoping to foster the sport in Queens.
Bombers Lacrosse, which has a successful high school travel team on Long Island, recently began hosting practices for children from kindergarten to eighth grade in Little Bay Park.
Now the youth league has more than 50 boys and girls participating in weekly training sessions and provides a place for kids to learn and grow with the sport.
“Everybody assumes it’s a Long Island thing — it’s not a Long Island sport anymore,” said Demian DeViccaro, co-president of Bombers Lacrosse. “There just aren’t as many youth programs here.”
The coaches are focusing on teaching the basics of shooting, catching and passing to the children since most of the kids in the camp have never even played lacrosse before entering the program.
The camp will run out of Little Bay Park until the end of June and return in the fall.
Besides the causal benefits of participating in the sport, such as friendship and teamwork, the program’s administrators say parents should know that the children could gain educational rewards as well.
More than 40 Bombers high school players have gone on to play college lacrosse on scholarships in the last two years.
Most of the coaches are former college players, and one is a professional with the New York Lizards. They believe if the kids pick up the sport and stick with it, they can use it to get money for school.
“I think it’s beneficial, because we have more opportunity than [in] sports like baseball,” said coach Ken Stubbolo Jr.
“Baseball is so popular, your odds of getting a scholarship is harder.”
For more information about the camp, visit Bomberslacrosse.com.
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