PLAYThe Coliseum Youth Lacrosse League
The CYLL will open the doors for underrepresented and overlooked groups to compete, grow and reap the benefits of youth lacrosse.
What is the primary issue area that your application will impact?
Play Equity to Advance Mental Health (sponsored by the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation)
In which areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
Central LA
East LA
San Gabriel Valley
San Fernando Valley
South LA
West LA
South Bay
Antelope Valley
County of Los Angeles
City of Los Angeles
In what stage of innovation is this project, program, or initiative?
Pilot or new project, program, or initiative
What is your understanding of the issue that you are seeking to address?
We are seeking to address a significant issue with sports equity in one of America's oldest and fastest growing sports. Creating access and representation in Los Angeles County Youth Lacrosse will: -Remove the significant financial barriers to youth lacrosse participation. -Increase the participation in communities of color in middle to low income communities. -Give children opportunities to learn the fundamentals and play lacrosse. -Create a fun way to blow off steam and positively affect mental health. -Create positive social networks for latchkey kids to safely participate in. -Create a pathway to restore and culminate high school lacrosse programs. -Develop a pathway to Universities through academic success and participation in nontraditional sports. -Tackle issues with food insecurities and access to nutritional meals among young adults and children. -Motivate and inspire communities of color to engage in nontraditional sports and pioneer it for future youth.
Describe the project, program, or initiative this grant will support to address the issue.
Currently, the youth lacrosse landscape in Los Angeles is reserved for the whitest and most economically elite groups. Currently, if you do not live west of the 405 freeway or any beach city and are not economically well off, you have many barriers to overcome in order for kids to play lacrosse. Factors include LA traffic, equipment costs, and registration fees. Funds in this program will be used to create a youth lacrosse league that is county wide that is: a) affordable ($500 a team) b) available to communities of color and have representation in coaching staff/officiating staff. c) accessible in local neighborhoods (Glendale, South Central, La Canada Flintridge, Compton, Downey, Long Beach and Bell Gardens) d) create a easy pathway for coaches and program directors to start lacrosse programs in LA County and participate in competitive matches. In addition, funds will be used to secure lacrosse protective equipment, portable goals, creases, field paint, and lacrosse balls. Lastly, funds will be used for officials, healthy food/snacks, transportation, coach stipends, computers, website, electronic, and communications.
Describe how Los Angeles County will be different if your work is successful.
LA County youth and high school lacrosse landscape will be changed forever unlike ever before. The goal this year is to launch the project and get as many kids playing lacrosse as possible by working with local City and County Parks. It will be difficult to offer teams at every park. The strategy is to select key parks that are spread throughout the county and focus on creating youth lacrosse programming there. Our focus parks are: Rancho Cienega Sports Complex, Exposition Park, Gilbert Lindsay, and LA County Victoria Park in Carson. The option to add or switch locations of "champion parks" will make it easier to allocate resources to run meaningful programs correctly and safely with coaches, equipment, supplies and access. Our leadership is best suited to take on this project. Not only have we lived through the youth/high school lacrosse experience in metro LA, but we have experience in former programs that attempted projects such as this. We will be successful because of experience.
What evidence do you have that this project, program, or initiative is or will be successful, and how will you define and measure success?
This is an early stage project that has never been done before. Currently, the landscape to play youth lacrosse in LA County is $2,000 a team for a 10 week season. Typical individual fees are 550-$900 each season. We measure and define success in a plethora of data that needs to be collected before, during and after the season: 1) How many zip codes does the league represent? 2) How many participants, coaches and players are in the league? 3) How many different officials do we have and how many new ones did we train? 4) How much lacrosse equipment is given out or rented out? 5) How many new CIF high school lacrosse programs are formed? 6) Do any Coliseum Youth Lacrosse alumni participate in high school lacrosse? How many? Is that number growing each year? 7) How many Coliseum Youth Lacrosse alumni attend college? Do any play lacrosse? Are any on athletic of academic scholarships? 8) Is the number of girls participants in sports increasing? 9) Is overall participation increasing?
Approximately how many people will be impacted by this project, program, or initiative?
Direct Impact: 500
Indirect Impact: 1,000
Describe the role of collaborating organizations on this project.
Each youth lacrosse program will be required to have board participation and must assist with voting on the bylaws as well as attending monthly meetings. Sole Folks will assist with uniforms and apparel. CommunityBuild will be a resource for academic support but also a partner we host introductory lacrosse clinics with. City of LA Recs and Park, City of Inglewood, Los Angeles Unified School District and LA County Parks and Rec will partner with us for field space. We will permit out City, County, or LAUSD field space to play games and have practices. Each program has access to different field space depending on municipality and what is available in close proximity.