There are numerous sports teams and programs on campus, but how many truly make a difference in the world? The ex-assistant coach for the Boys Varsity Lacrosse team is looking to use lacrosse as a way to help less fortunate kids. Through his organization Lacrosse the Nations (LtN), coach Brett Hughes is looking to give back to the world what his favorite sport offered him. Lacrosse the Nations is a non-profit organization that visits third-world countries and gives underprivileged kids the chance to express themselves through the sport of lacrosse. The organization recently went on a trip to Nicaragua and gave lacrosse equipment to children in Villa Guadalupe.
LtN took along a few Sea Kings lacrosse players on the trip, one of them being junior Dylan Egan. Egan exclaimed, “I had never seen kids be so excited over a stick and a ball until I went on this trip. After a year of gathering funds and donations for our trip, we finally realized how great of a cause it was going to.”
Jarrett Jones, a Palos Verdes sophomore, also went on the trip, and shared his experience. “We flew into the capital of Nicaragua, Managua, and driving through the town, we were all in disbelief [in regards to] the buildings and houses there. Most of the buildings were just pieces of tin leaned together with a dirt floor… As the week went on we saw countless little houses but I think that we were all thinking that there was no way that people really lived in [the houses].”
Many of the volunteers wondered just how people lived in these conditions, and Jones stated, “We couldn’t believe it. But after a few days of playing with the kids there, we saw just how grateful and happy they always were.”
The program tries to make lacrosse a part of children’s everyday lives, going to practices and playing after-school games. As part of this, Lacrosse the Nations offers classes to kids in affected communities to help them connect their on-field play to real life. The classes have four primary units,:taking care ofoneself and each other, teamwork and cooperation, respect and sportsmanship, and health. Health is an important factor in these countries because they are very vulnerable to disease and illness because of their lack of resources. Many of these children lack basic education about health that most children in more privileged countries take for granted.
Lacrosse is a sport that takes mental capability and gruesome endurance. Lacrosse will force the kids to learn how to make decisions on the fly, and will also give them a great workout. “The kids worked really hard and watching their games was pretty intense,” said Dylan Egan. “I remember one specific game where it was a tie between the two teams and one kid took the ball goal to goal and scored to win the game. I’ve never seen a group of kids that happy in my life.”
LtN helps some of the older kids leave their towns and venture out to get a higher education by becoming LtN coaches. They offer the counselors a scholarship to help pay for college on top of their salary. The majority of these children would never be given the opportunity to leave their community and live a better life, had it not been for Lacrosse the Nations. They also have program directors that live in each community to help maintain the programs and track how everything is coming along. The volunteers were amazed to see how positive the local coaches were, along with the children.
Jones said, “We were driving to pick up one of the coaches through a neighborhood where every house was just pieces of metal leaned together, and again we all thought that he lived in the next neighborhood over because there was no way that he lived in one of these houses. But then the van stopped and we saw someone come out of one of the houses… it was the coach. At that moment we all realized that every single one of the kids we have met lived in these types of houses, yet they still act like they just won a million bucks [whenever they play lacrosse].”