During a time that social injustice and systemic racism are headlining the news on a nightly basis, the lacrosse community has stepped up, joining forces to raise funds and awareness for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Led by WPLL Fight midfielder Taylor Cummings, 24 different men’s and women’s professional lacrosse players will host “Clinics For Change” via Zoom on Sunday afternoon, June 14, from 12:00 to 1:30pm ET. The clinic costs $10, with all funds being donated directly to one of four charities: Black Lives Matter, Athlete Ally, EveryTown, and CommonBond Communities.
“It started with a group of women’s lacrosse players talking. We wanted to figure out how we could use our platforms to support the Black Lives Matter movement,” Cummings said. “We wanted to find a way to help that went beyond just reposting things on social media. We wanted to use lacrosse as a platform for change.”
Out of her conversations with other prominent players, Cummings began to plan the framework for a virtual clinic to help raise funds and awareness, and “Clinics For Change” was born. Originally just limited to women’s lacrosse, encouragement and help from Alex Aust quickly expanded the coaching group and the clinic into the men’s game as well.
As Cummings reached out to other players, even before having a full structure and plan for the event in place, the coaching roster expanded swiftly. With 24 coaches in place, every spot on the field was accounted for and represented. The original plan for a women’s lacrosse clinic had grown into four different clinics, all hosted at the same time, sorted out by position.
“It was incredible how quickly people jumped on board,” said Cummings. “Everyone wants and is willing to help out right away. Each person we asked was willing to donate their time to help encourage positive change.”
While Cummings and the rest of the coaches hope that those who attend will learn something that will benefit them on the lacrosse field, the objective goes far beyond lacrosse. They hope to raise awareness for the issues currently facing the country. Cummings and the rest of the coaches hope they can set an example and “encourage positive change” for young lacrosse players and athletes while showing that injustice and racism have no place in our sport and country.
“I saw something on Instagram this morning that said ‘Make this a movement, not a moment.’ And that really stuck out to me,” Cummings said. “We want to blow this out and raise as much awareness for these great organizations as we can. We’re not stopping here.”
You can register for the clinics through Taylor Cumming’s website.
Full list of coaches below:
Goalies: Liz Hogan, Gussie Johns, Caylee Waters, Adam Ghitelman, Brian Phipps
Defenders: Alice Mercer, Megan Douty, Matt McMahon, Greg Danseglio, Matt Dunn, Scott Ratliff
Midfielders: Taylor Cummings, Dempsey Arsenault, Marie McCool, Myles Jones, Trevor Baptiste, Dominique Alexander, Brent Adams
Attackers: Alex Aust, Sam Apuzzo, Kylie Ohlmiller, Deemer Class, Marcus Holman, Jules Heningburg
