Starting this month, hundreds of parents and kids will arrive at 166 Chief Justice Cushing Highway in Cohasset in search of something that not even the world’s most powerful, largest retailer can provide. They will resist the temptation of utilizing the most efficient warehouse ever built instead opting for an old school experience that over the past few decades has all but gone extinct. They will seek assistance from a familiar face because when it comes to their children’s safety that is, not even the most elaborate, the most eloquent algorithm can possibly provide the level of comfort and reassurance sought. And the irony, the smile icon that appears on the brown boxes delivered daily to your doorstep pales in comparison to the one that beams every time you walk through the front door with the nerf basketball above it.

Getting young children’s to learn how to do something like scoop a ground ball, first requires their attention. Getting their attention, is easy, sustaining it, however, can be challenging.

A few months from now, the weather will be textbook New England; cold and rainy. The pay check will not increased one red cent bringing your whopping total for 10 stellar weeks of effort at $0.00.  And the complaints about playing time and uniform sizes will start to pour in to your inbox by the dozens. You knew this though, and yet you continue to raise your hands each year looking to help out! 

Kobe’s passing is truly unfortunate and not because we lost of the games greatest players but we lost a man who embodied the principles of hard work and sacrifice to achieve success. A worthwhile principle I hope all parents reading this will consider for how we raise our kiddos and the activities we select for them to partake in. Instead of pushing our kids into certain sports based our own affiliation and history with that sport, let’s instead focus providing unconditional love and support in whatever activity they express passion. If we do that, we probably will not raise the next greatest basketball player but hopefully the next Kobe Bryant of engineering or education.🧑🏻‍🎓 .

One of the games they absolutely love is called Bucket Ball. Cleary, no points awarded for naming of games. Nonetheless, the objective is to get the ball into the bucket from 5-7 yards out. The player who ends up with the most balls in the bucket after shooting their 20 or so balls is the winner. 🥍🗑

At Scoops, I like to say the lead actor/actress billed in the story is not lacrosse but rather play. The supporting actor/actress is fun. The proxy we use to tell this story is a sport (lacrosse). Sports are the best way to keep kids active, build confidence, learn resilience, and ultimately help them realize their potential early on. That’s our endgame. And we achieve it through fun games and play

It is said that ‘play is the language of children’. The most critical question we must ask ourselves today is whether we have ‘spoken’ it to them lately? Not through rationale or signups, but rather in your backyard or basement this upcoming weekend...I dare you to start playing again. Who knows, you may just have some fun.

I’d bet that I’ve probably dealt something like 1,700 soft pink lacrosse balls over the last 20 months. And while I am not entirely certain of the specific number of balls given out, I am 100%  positive on the number of balls I’ve collected back. That number is zero. Backed by the hundreds upon hundreds of insanely awesome emails and text messages I have been privileged to receive that contain videos, images of those very same scoopers outside practicing their Paddy cakes and Mr. Knuckles. 

The pride contained in those notes sent to me by parents is only exceeded by the pride displayed when the scoopers show up for the next class, thrilled to demonstrate their week’s efforts. 

Scoops Lacrosse was born out of a total dad fail the winter of 2017.  At the time, I wanted nothing more than my then 5 year old son Archer to enjoy and love the game of #lacrosse as much I do.

Everything we do has a result. Winning is a result. Participation is result. Sportsmanship is a result. Without any real meaning these are just common sports themes our society tends to popularize.  Individually, these are all commendable goals, but the real opportunity is to create fulfillment through inspired coaching.