Albany, NY – The Albany FireWolves are dedicated to growing the game of lacrosse in the Capital Region. Ahead of the spring high school and youth lacrosse seasons, the team’s latest initiative has been working with local school districts to host clinics that will help boys and girls start to learn the game.
With support from the Albany FireWolves Foundation and Dick’s House of Sport, FireWolves players Justin Geddie, Tye Kurtz, Will Johansen, and Sam Firth will be kicking this off with appearances at clinics for the Lansingburgh and Brunswick-Brittonkill Central School Districts.
“We are very excited to have the support of the Albany FireWolves Foundation and Dick’s House of Sport in growing the game of lacrosse in the Lansingburgh School District,” said Mike Robbins the newly appointed Lansingburgh School District Athletic Director. My predecessor Tom Murley was crucial in beginning this relationship and I’m thrilled to continue it. These skills clinics with FireWolves players are a big step towards continuing to build our youth and high school lacrosse programs.”
These clinics will reach students from several schools in the local districts including Rensselaer Park Elementary. Turnpike Elementary, Knickerbacker Middle School, Lansingburgh High School, Tamarac Elementary, Tamarac Middle School, and Tamarac High School. Through these training experiences with FireWolves players, the hope is that the youth and high school programs attract more players and their skill level rises.
“We wanted to do more than to just show up and run through drills with the kids,” said Steve Donovan the Director of the AFW Training Academy. “We developed a four-part plan for these clinics that will help build a strong lacrosse community.”
The four-part plan looks like this:
- Run fun clinics for Lansingburgh and Tamarac students with appearances from FireWolves players. These clinics were kept free by working with the City of Troy Parks Department. Sticks for the kids to use on these clinic nights were made available thanks to the generosity of the Albany FireWolves Foundation and Dick’s House of Sport.
- Have the coaches from these local schools assist in our clinics. This will hopefully allow those coaches to not only pick up some new drills and concepts, but to build contacts with FireWolves players and coaches for future references should they need any support in the future.
- Get the older players from the high schools involved to help run these clinics as well. The youth players look up to the older kids in their programs and truly love the positive reinforcement from the older kids. The older kids have a lot of fun working with the younger players and this helps begin a lacrosse culture within the community.
- Lastly, we will provide an informational session with the Capital District Youth Lacrosse League to guide Lansingburgh and Tamarac in creating a youth club that will provide programming for kids K-6th.
Through this plan the FireWolves hope to inspire the next generation of lacrosse players in the Capital Region. Through boosting confidence and being a part of a strong community, these boys and girls can dream of one day playing pro lacrosse. Thank you to the Albany FireWolves Foundation and Dick’s House of Sport for their commitment to supporting the Albany community through the game of lacrosse.
Interested in setting up a clinic for your students? Please contact Steve Donovan steve@albanyfirewolves.com
Single game tickets for the 2023-2024 FireWolves season are available now! Join us for Alphie’s Birthday Bash on February 17 as we celebrate the best mascot around. Enter our poster contest and get there early to pick up an Alphie bobblehead. For more information regarding tickets, visit www.AlbanyFireWolves.com or call/text the FireWolves front office at 518-362-4900.
About Albany FireWolves
The Albany FireWolves is the Capital Region’s very own Professional Box Lacrosse team, playing in the National Lacrosse League out of the MVP Arena in downtown Albany, NY. For more information, contact the Albany FireWolves Front Office at (518) 362-4900 or visit AlbanyFireWolves.com. Follow the team on Facebook at facebook.com/AlbFireWolves, Twitter @AlbFireWolves, and Instagram @AlbFireWolves.
About the National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is North America’s premier professional lacrosse league. Founded in 1986, the NLL ranks third in average attendance for pro indoor sports worldwide, behind only the NHL and NBA. The League is comprised of 15 franchises across the United States and Canada: Albany FireWolves, Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Georgia Swarm, Halifax Thunderbirds, Las Vegas Desert Dogs, New York Riptide, Panther City Lacrosse Club (TX), Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush, Toronto Rock, and Vancouver Warriors. For more information, visit NLL.com and find @NLL on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
About MVP Arena
MVP Arena is a full-service entertainment and sports facility featuring a wide variety of family shows, sporting events, trade shows and concerts. Owned by Albany County and managed by ASM Global, MVP Arena opened in 1990 and is home to the Albany FireWolves of the National Lacrosse League, the Albany Firebirds of the Arena Football League and the Division I Men’s College Basketball Siena Saints. For more information, please visit https://www.mvparena.com/
