Bianca Sullivan - Why I Give Back to MetroLacrosse
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It’s 6:50am and we start our slow shuffle to breakfast. Looking across campus, we see a misty fog slowly lifting and a rainbow of lacrosse pinnies converging on the dining hall. We are on Day Four of SummerBounce; exhaustion has started to set in. Day Four at camp gives our players a true test: can they get through the fatigue and soreness and push themselves to play on? Can they keep a cool head when everything else feels so hard? Will they complete the fitness challenge purposely scheduled for this day to test their grit, determination and self-control? I look to one of my coaches, Coach Bianca, and ask “Do you remember Day Four when you were a camper?
Kim Herrig, Managing Director
Despite being the shortest program we offer, SummerBounce arguably provides the most impact of all programs offered by MetroLacrosse. Each summer MetroLacrosse hosts two, week-long, sessions of camp where 200 participants from around the country join us at the New Hampton School in New Hampshire. Originally created as an opportunity for our kids to simply get out of the city for a week, SummerBounce has grown to be a powerful experience where young urban lacrosse players come to not only improve their lacrosse skills, but also to challenge themselves to step outside of their comfort zone and to realize their full potential. With a grueling schedule, a combination of lacrosse play & instruction, enrichment, and outdoor adventure programs, our campers learn to strive for excellence in the classroom, in their communities, and on the field.
Bianca Sullivan, a MetroLacrosse alumna, graduated from Wellesley High School in 2009 via the METCO Program. She went on to Howard University, where she played Division I women’s lacrosse, and graduated in 2014. She’s currently weighing her options for graduate school, where she’ll pursue a degree in either journalism or immigration law; both with the intent and desire to bring to the forefront the often ignored topics that plague urban communities. Bianca was one of eleven MetroLacrosse alumni who chose to come back and work the summer camp they all fondly remembered. She shares:
I recall waking up at 7am with my jersey half-way off and my pants on backwards in order to make it to the dining hall on time and being forced to drink two glasses water during all meals even though at the time I thought water was my biggest enemy. Traditions were very important and expectations were high. I had no idea then what SummerBounce was doing for me but as I faced challenges in life I reflected on the Alpine Tower at SummerBounce and how it took me three years to get to the top; but I did it!
While coaching the girls, I encouraged many of them to stick it out and keep in touch because the program creates endless opportunities. As a 5th grader, I had no idea that I would one day play collegiate lacrosse at a D1 institution on a full lacrosse scholarship.
These days, funding for youth development programs has become increasingly competitive, with very quantitative outcomes-based evaluation. MetroLacrosse can confidently report that 71% of our participants in 2014 reported an increase in their physical activity. We can also report that over the last three years, our rate of retention, as well as our attendance, has steadily increased. But what measurement do you use to quantify the impact of positive adult influence, character development or grit in an urban youth?
This summer, we learned that we can report something impossible to quantify but easy to see. We can report that MetroLacrosse players continue to embody the positive changes they realized as a result of SummerBounce and our other programs well after they leave our fields. Players eventually realize that they have not only been conditioned as athletes, but they have been prepared to be responsible adults, able to make sound decisions that reflect a healthy physical and emotional lifestyle. Many players, like Bianca Sullivan, appreciate the skills they had struggled with, and eventually mastered, enough to return and pay it forward to the next generation of MetroLacrosse participants. These young adults provide the measurement we can all see: urban kids who learn to succeed on and off the field.
Today, fourteen years after our founding, MetroLacrosse knows the tremendous power of our program. We are committed more than ever to using the experience of team sports to cultivate the skills and life choices that help urban youth and teens lead fulfilling lives, succeed at achieving their personal goals, and become leaders in their communities. We hope that you can support our commitment to providing a lifetime of impact to the young people of MetroLacrosse. Summer Bounce may only be a couple of weeks each summer, but its impact lasts a lifetime.
