February 4, 2010
Welcoming the world
The Little League World Series is one of the most iconic events in American sports, with young baseball players from across the globe thrust into the spotlight to compete for a championship. Now, two prominent members of the New England lacrosse community hope to bring that same spirit to their sport by creating the World Series of Lacrosse.
Jack Piatelli, a former All-American at Springfield College and Regional Sales Manager for Warrior Lacrosse and Brine Sports, and Darrell Benson, President of the Eastern Massachusetts Lacrosse Officials Association, have launched the event after nearly five years of discussion and preparation.
The World Series of Lacrosse is starting small: this July, eight teams representing different parts of the country will compete in Boston for the boys' 7th & 8th grade championship. The plan is to eventually expand the tournament to include girls' teams, additional age groups and an international division.
"We're looking to walk before we can run," said Benson. "We want to make sure that we do this one part as well as we possibly can. Any glitches that happen will happen on a small scale, so we can address them going forward."
"But the idea is that one day, this can be our Williamsport, with kids from all over the world competing here, having a tremendous lacrosse experience and getting national recognition," he continued.
The preliminary stages of the tournament will begin in the spring, with about 60 to 90 teams participating in district competitions. Each district will feed into regional championships; then, each region will produce a champion to play this summer in Boston.
Benson and Piatelli first floated the idea of starting a town competitive style championship along the lines of Little League baseball or Pop Warner football five years ago, after noticing a lack of strong competitions for local town teams to compete in.
"The sport of lacrosse is exploding in terms of youth participation," said Piatelli. "More and more towns have teams. But the key is giving them a chance to improve their skills and compete against other good teams."
While traveling select club teams compete nationally, Piatelli and Benson say the beauty of this model is that it allows more players to participate in highly competitive lacrosse without the travel and expense of the competitive club programs.
"The great thing about town teams is that the kids get to play with their buddies from home," said Benson. "Club teams offer a great chance for kids to work on their skills, but — it's nice in [Little League] baseball to see players competing for town pride alongside their friends."]
Benson and Piatelli also hope that creating a structured championship for town teams to compete in will increase focus on developing quality coaching and officiating.
"Right now, while the number of kids playing lacrosse is growing rapidly, the coaching and development of players — as well as the officiating — isn't able to keep up," said Benson, who oversees training and selection of officials throughout eastern and central Massachusetts. "It's really important to have quality coaching and officiating to help grow the game."
The World Series of Lacrosse is established as a non-profit corporation, and Benson said he hopes to be able to provide opportunities in the future to establish camps and clinics for players, coaches, and officials.
"Lacrosse is a gentleman's sport," Benson said. "Often when there's not enough focus on developing skills, there's too much focus on the physical aspects of the game — players go out there and whack their opponents with their bodies and sticks. But the best [college, high school and youth] teams recognize the physical aspects of the game but put their emphasis on speed and finesse. That's the culture we hope to spread across youth lacrosse, to help develop a better understanding for the finer aspects of the game."
A portion of the funding for the tournament has come from private groups thus far, but Piatelli said that the group was in talks with major national corporations as well as the major national lacrosse equipment manufacturers.
Piatelli said the group has been in contact with marketing and public relations firms to develop a strategy to reach out to local and national media. The Little League World Series is broadcast on ABC and ESPN; while this event looks to start smaller, with live internet video and perhaps some TV coverage, the hope is to gain the same kind of national exposure and attention for youth lacrosse players.
"I know it's considered politically incorrect by some to put young players under the pressures of competition and in the spotlight in their younger years and see some win and some lose under big pressure, but that's America," Benson said. "And to me, winning an event like this is just like adding additional icing on the cake; everyone else who participates also gets a piece of cake with icing by just taking part in this kind of competition."
In 2011, the group hopes to start a pilot international program in several countries, including Canada and Australia, with the goal of eventually bringing other countries' champions.
"I've been involved in lacrosse for a long time," said Benson. "I'm at the stage in my life where what I really want is to create something different, unique, and special. I want to bring a tremendous lacrosse opportunity and experience to kids who play youth lacrosse and help this great sport grow into the mainstream."
If this summer's inaugural championship goes well and the World Series grows as planned, he may well get his wish.
