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Parks & People Foundation's Lacrosse League Players Attend Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic

BALTIMORE, MD – More than 150 players from the Parks & People Foundation’s Baltimore Middle School Lacrosse League (BMSLL) attended the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Stadium on Saturday, March 6.  Tickets for the players were generously donated by the Baltimore Sun and Inside Lacrosse.  As an added bonus, 20 lucky players served as ball boys during the third game.  

The Parks & People Foundation has run the lacrosse league since 2000 serving over 1,000 young people, many of whom would never have had the opportunity to play lacrosse without the BMSLL. Many of the schools that participate in the league represent Baltimore’s most economically disadvantaged and underserved neighborhoods.  In addition to learning lacrosse skills, players learn valuable lessons in character development, teamwork, reliability and commitment.  The league’s current participating schools include: Dickey Hill, Bluford Drew Jemison East and West, Franklin Square, Kipp Ujima, Cross Country, Francis Scott Key, Booker T. Washington and Calverton.  

The Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic featured three games: Maryland vs. Duke, Princeton vs. Johns Hopkins and Loyola vs. Notre Dame. Since its inception four years ago, the event has marked the traditional start to the lacrosse season.  

“This event is a terrific opportunity for our players to experience the best that collegiate lacrosse has to offer – live and in person. For many of our players, this is be the first live lacrosse game they’ve seen,” said Bernie Shephard, Sports Program Manager for the Parks & People Foundation.

The Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic will also be the unofficial kickoff of the league’s exciting expansion plans.  Parks & People is partnering with the Baltimore City Police Department, led by lacrosse enthusiast Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld, to bring lacrosse to even more young people in Spring 2010 and subsequent seasons. “We want to bring this great sport to schools that could never afford it otherwise and hopefully impact families and communities through the players’ participation,” said Commissioner Bealefeld. Members of the Baltimore police department will provide mentoring and assist with coaching and recruiting for the expanded league with the goal of improving the relationship between the Police Department and the teams’ communities.

“Our hope is to expand the Parks & People league from 6 teams to 24 teams in the next three years,” said Parks & People Director of Youth Programs Monica Logan.  

Commissioner Bealefeld along with other committed lacrosse proponents A.C. George, Geoff Brent, Bill Boykin, Guy Matricciani and the Trilogy Foundation are providing leadership for the initiative and working to raise the funds necessary to continue and expand the league.

Ongoing funding for Parks & People's Baltimore Middle School Lacrosse League is provided by the U.S. Lacrosse Foundation.

For information on the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic, visit http://insidelacrosse.com.

For more information on the Parks & People Foundation’s sports programs, visit http://www.parksandpeople.org/play/youth-sports or call (410) 448-5663.