TC Hawks Camden Dyer-Decator, left, and John Mendelis pose in the safety equipment of the lacrosse player.

So, what is the oldest team sport that is native to America? Baseball! Many might exclaim the name of America’s Pastime, but they would be wrong. Lacrosse would be the correct answer, believe it or not. The origins of lacrosse might stretch back in time some 4,000 years in America, playing a significant part in the community and religious life of tribes across the continent for many years.

The first European to write about the sport was French Jesuit Jean de Brebeuf who saw Iroquois warriors playing the game in 1637, and called it “la crosse” or ‘the stick.’ Would those same Iroquois be astonished if they came back to the Susquehanna valley and found youngsters playing their game? They do, right here at the Tioga County Boys and Girls Club.

“It’s been called the fastest sport on two feet,” co-coordinator and volunteer coach Scott Brown said of lacrosse. According to Brown, lacrosse incorporates the offensive style of basketball, the stamina of soccer, and the hand-eye coordination of baseball into a fast-paced sport. “It’s a fun sport to play and watch,” Brown said, adding that there has been an ongoing exponential expansion of the sport in America, and among all ages.

Three co-ed teams are fielded at the Boys and Girl’s Club in Owego under the name TC Hawks: an eight and under, ten and under, and twelve and under team. A league for girls is in development and planning stages as interest in lacrosse picks up among girls, Brown said, but for now the TC Hawks are co-ed. There is a lot of interest in attracting girls to the sport, to complement the strong association the Hawks already have with the Owego Free Academy’s Boy’s Lacrosse program, according to Brown. Coach Brian Kinney and some of his varsity lacrosse players come each year to mentor the youth teams, and some of the Hawks volunteer to be ball boys for the varsity team.

Players on the ten and under TC Hawks Lacrosse squad, Camden Dyer-Decator and John Mendelis are ready for action!

Three years ago, when Brown and Tioga County Boys and Girls Club Athletic Director Luke Henson came to the lacrosse program, there were 32 kids playing the sport. Last year there were over 90, Brown said, but he worried that it might be difficult to attract as many this year. They don’t know how many kids have left with their families after the flood, or how many will be able to make practice after a long bus ride to a new school after Owego Elementary School was devastated in the flood. And the lacrosse program itself was not untouched by the flood.

The equipment provided by the program – helmets, pads, jerseys – was stored in a shed that was inundated by the flood, with a loss of approximately $17,500 worth of new and used equipment. The manufacturer of the helmets was contacted to figure out how to clean and disinfect the expensive helmets, with the families and kids of the TC Hawks doing the work of saving the helmets. The plastic helmets with face masks cost about $125 each, and with over a hundred damaged in the flood, the program realized a big savings by refurbishing the muddy helmets. Lacrosse equipment is now stored inside the Boys and Girls Club.

The TC Hawks have also worked with GraphTex, a major sponsor of the lacrosse program who put Henson in touch with manufacturers who offered donations of and discounts on equipment. Kevin Leveille of Syracuse-based Brine and Warrior Lacrosse was also quick to act after the flood. “We have a great care for the game and for the people involved in the game,” Leveille said in an email, “we want to help provide opportunity for the young players of today. In the most unfortunate of circumstances, we’re glad that we were able to be a part of creating a new, fresh start for the youth players in your community.”

Lacrosse player Camden Dyer-Decator is helped with equipment by Tioga County Boys and Girls Club Athletic Director Luke Henson

Even with the help of major distributors and manufacturers, Henson said that they are about $8,000 short in their effort to recover all of the gear lost during the flood. Among stuff still needed are jerseys, and pads along with other safety equipment for the eight and under team. To help raise the remaining $8,000, Henson and Brown are looking forward to the annual chicken barbeque fundraiser on Feb. 11. They are preparing some 500 meals at $7.00 each, which will be served from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 11. Pre-orders are being taken by calling the Boys and Girls Club at 687-0690.The only equipment the Hawks do not provide for the kids are the sticks, according to Henson, which is a commitment to providing an opportunity for young lacrosse players not undertaken by all youth programs. To outfit a player with all the gear and stick would cost about $300 per child, Henson said, and they would grow out of it quickly too, he quipped. The lacrosse program is not free, costing $35 to register a child, and then another investment in a lacrosse stick, but that is all. And well worth it, according to a couple of young players.

Volunteer coach and co-coordinator of the TC Hawks lacrosse program Scott Brown helps John Mendelis put on the safety equipment for his sport.

“It’s super fun,” ten-year-old Camden Dyer-Decator said, “I’m never going back to baseball.” Camden started playing for the TC Hawks last year, and emphasized that “lacrosse is so much fun!”

Fellow ten-year-old John Mendelis also started plying for the TC Hawks last year, and agrees with Camden about the fun of playing lacrosse. John is looking forward to this season, which will see the TC Hawks again competing in the Broome County Youth Lacrosse League. John’s eight-year-old brother Tom also plays for the Hawks on the eight & under team, but recruitment does not stop at home for John. “We need more people to join,” John said.

Henson said that there are a couple of upcoming opportunities for parents to give their kids a taste of lacrosse. There will be a free open clinic on Feb. 24 for players of all ages, with two more on March 3 and 10. Equipment handouts will be just four days later, and the first practice for the TC Hawks will be on March 19. The first games will be at the

From left, Camden Dyer-Decator, Luke Henson, Scott Brown and John Mendelis check out some new lacrosse pads after the TC Hawks lost most of their equipment in the flood. Gear for the younger players is still needed.

end of April, though the schedule is not made yet, and the Hawks are unsure if they will be able to play on their usual home field at Owego Elementary School, or will need to play on a modified field at the Boys and Girls Club on Erie Street.

Donations for the TC Hawks are being accepted. Checks should be made out to Tioga County Boys and Girls Club Youth Lacrosse Program, and sent directly to the care of the Boys and Girls Club at 201 Erie St., Owego, New York, 13827.