PHILADELPHIA, March 26, 2018 – The National Lacrosse League (NLL), the largest men’s professional indoor lacrosse league in North America, today announced an extended partnership with Right To Play, a global organization dedicated to educating and empowering youth in need through sport and games, while driving lasting social change in their communities. This is the sixth year that the NLL has teamed up with Right To Play in order to increase awareness of the organization and raise money to support local programming benefiting children in indigenous provinces.
The official start to this league-wide initiative will be the weekend of March 30 -31. Players, coaches and staff from all NLL teams will be auctioning jerseys and hosting fundraising activities to benefit the youth empowerment organization. The programming not only supports local children and youth facing adversity, but also helps grow lacrosse within Indigenous communities across both countries. The Toronto Rock will be hosting Right To Play Youth participants where there will be a ceremonial ball drop at their game against the Colorado Mammoth on March 30. In addition, the Vancouver Stealth will host a group of youth.
“Supporting Right To Play is a natural fit for the League; because we’re not only giving back to our local team markets, but to Indigenous communities where lacrosse has such deep roots,” said Nick Sakiewicz, Commissioner of the National Lacrosse League. “This is an extraordinary way for the NLL to recognize and celebrate lacrosse’s heritage, while simultaneously supporting and empowering youth.”
Since 2012, the NLL and Right To Play have reached thousands of Indigenous children and youth with the support of the NLL and its teams. Not only do these players teach on-field skills of the game, players have also taught off-field life skills such as leadership, sportsmanship and respect to help children and youth work together to build communities and make a long-term impact. This simultaneously builds an active and healthy lifestyle which educates youth on the game, as well as creates a positive experience that they may apply in their everyday lives.
New to this year, each team will have a “Player Champion” representative, compromised of players and executives. These designees are responsible for promoting Right To Play activations across the league. One of which, is a league wide fundraising campaign between each of the 11 current clubs, as they compete against one another off the field. To participate, follow the below links and support your favorite team.
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Team
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Player Champion
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Link
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Buffalo Bandits
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Craig England, Kevin Brownell
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Calgary Roughnecks
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Creighton Reid
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Colorado Mammoth
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Dan Coates
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Georgia Swarm
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Jordan MacIntosh
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New England Black Wolves
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Philadelphia Wings
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Sean Delaney
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Rochester Knighthawks
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Paul Dawson
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San Diego Seals
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Saskatchewan Rush
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Adrian Sorichetti
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Toronto Rock
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Brad Kri
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Vancouver Stealth
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Joel McCready
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For more information on Right To Play, visit righttoplay.com
