Harlem isn’t exactly thought of as a lacrosse hotbed. But that’s about to change.
Five years ago, Simon Cataldo, a teacher at Frederick Douglas Academy on 140th Street in Harlem, was having a difficult time in the classroom — students were struggling academically and misbehaving. So he thought using lacrosse as an outlet might help.
“I played lacrosse in high school, not in college,” Cataldo said. “Didn’t give it a second thought until I got to Harlem. It seemed like a really good alignment.
“I was unprepared for all the challenges, and the only thing I could think of to do was to take the kids on the handball court and teach them lacrosse. Through that, I was able to instill discipline, responsibility and motivation in the classroom. Their grades shot up, and the school administration signed on.”
The first year of the program — what would become Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership — there were just 10 students. In 2012, there were 145. The focus was on special education and at-risk children.
What started out in one school has now spread to another, as PS 149/Sojourner Truth school has boys and girls lacrosse programs. Though Cataldo is now attending law school in Virginia, he still is very much involved in the operations of the Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership efforts.
“Lacrosse is something new to them,” Cataldo said. “I think they see this as an opportunity to adopt a new identity and do something they wouldn’t be able to do, and they really enjoy that.”
Wyatt Melzer, the senior program director at PS 149, has seen results at the school. Children in the program have had increased grades (on average, six to 10 points) and participating students have received more than $5.2 million in academic scholarship offers since the program’s inception.
“There were 40 boys on the team last year, 40 boys on the team this year,” Melzer said. “We started our first ever girls program at PS 149 this year, around 40 girls as well. So in a school of about 100 kids, there’s around 80 boys and girls that play lacrosse, so lacrosse has made a large impact on the school grounds here.”
All students in the program have graduated the eighth grade on time since 2011.
They even take trips to see lacrosse games, including to Virginia, where one of the top Division I programs resides. Dom Starsia, the Hall of Fame Virginia men’s lacrosse coach, who has the most Division I wins of all time, came to Harlem last week to talk to the kids.
“I am in awe of the work being done by the people involved with Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership,” he said. “I am also very proud to have Virginia Lacrosse associated with those efforts, and anxious to provide whatever support possible.”
Five years into the program, the bar has been set high, but there is more work to be done.
“We want to be in five schools in five years in Harlem and in 10 schools in 10 years,” Melzer said. “And I think that second group of schools does not necessarily have to be in Harlem, as we continue to outreach to cities such as Baltimore, New Jersey, cities in Long Island. All cities that serve a large group of inner-city schools.”
For more information on the Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership, visit www.harlemlacrosse.org.