The Bronx is known for things like hip hop and basketball. But in the last few years, a new activity has begun to take hold in the borough. The sport of lacrosse.
Yes, we know that raised a few eyebrows but it’s true.
In 2015, special education teacher Dan Leventhal wanted to find a way to connect with his students and the South Bronx community where he taught. He was a player on the Tufts lacrosse team and won the DIII National Championship in 2014, so he decided to share his passion for lacrosse with his seventh grade class at Highbridge Green School.
In 2016, he had a team of 30 students. A year later, he officially founded the organization, Bronx Lacrosse.
The organization is about much more than lacrosse. It’s improving the lives of students through the life lessons and skills taught by the sport.
“Lacrosse is a very nontraditional sport in the south Bronx and can give Bronx students different options and opportunities,” said Leventhal.
The South Bronx is one of the poorest areas in the city and the country. In Districts 1 and 2, the median household income is $25,074. But in recent years, neighborhoods such as Mott Haven, Highbridge, and Hunts Point have experienced a wave of gentrification. For the program’s students from these neighborhoods, lacrosse has contributed to the area’s rebirth.
Through Bronx Lacrosse, students have seen their lives improve. For a borough that ranks last in categories such as health, lacrosse provides much-needed support.
“In lower income communities, there’s way less access to organized sports, enrichment activities, extracurricular activities,” said Leventhal. “And then in the South Bronx especially, there’s also health disparities as well.”
According to the Bronx Lacrosse site, the program has helped increase school attendance, grades, and graduation rates.
“100% of eighth-grade program participants passed all four major core classes (ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies) and graduated middle school on time.”
In a borough where names like Fat Joe, Cardi B, and Kemba Walker are more recognized than Jim Brown and Kyle Harrison, it’s impressive to see the impact, influence, and success lacrosse has had in the borough.
“This is a sport that’s played by a majority of white people, and if you’re coming from an area of a diverse background, it can present an opportunity that basketball probably can’t, because there’s so many kids that play basketball,” said Leventhal.
In 2019, both the girl’s and boy’s middle school teams at Highbridge Green won the Middle School Athletic City Lacrosse Championships. For a program with only two years under its belt, that’s extremely impressive.
Last year, the pandemic cut their season short. But that didn’t mean they remained idle.
They raised money for food drives and did check ins to understand their student’s situations and ensure they were in good health. The outreach was just another example of how lacrosse connected and supported neighborhoods and families in the borough.
Now that the city has lifted Covid restrictions, the program is restarting its on the field operations. Only now, because of increased demand, Leventhal is opening the program up to the entire borough.
This July, Bronx Lacrosse is launching a free summer academy to introduce the sport to middle school students across the Bronx.
“Lacrosse is a very nontraditional sport in the south Bronx and can give Bronx students different options and opportunities,” said Leventhal. “The point of these summer clinics is to get students interested to see whether or not they want to enroll in the Bronx Lacrosse Program this fall and receive the full suite of our academic and lacrosse service.”
For Bronx Lacrosse students, the program has inspired them to want and do more.
“When it came to the sport, it helped me improve as a person and it helped me become a better team teammate,” said Ashley Zamora, a 14-year-old player in the program. “I plan on becoming a leader for the younger lacrosse players, and I want to get into a good college to be a surgeon.”
Through students like Ashley, “Laxin'”, as they call it in the BX, could be the next big thing to come out of the Boogie Down.
