Providing equipment for your youth level program

Youth programs don't need to hand out equipment to all their players, as some parents at the youth level will provide equipment for their children. However, other parents are reluctant to make the investment of purchasing lacrosse equipment before they are certain that their sons are serious about playing lacrosse. It's safe to say that if lacrosse equipment were cheap and easily available, it's likely that more kids would be playing the game. How many families have old, abandoned, or ill fitting sports gear and equipment lying around the garage? Most families with children, and especially boys, do. It would be wasteful to spend $300-$400 on a full set of mid-priced lacrosse equipment if your son does not stick with the sport. The highly priced equipment is a barrier of entry into the sport for a lot of families, and as a result, many children who are interested in lacrosse are unable to play because it's too expensive. While lacrosse is quickly growing in many neighborhoods and cities across the US, it could be growing at a much faster rate if more affordable equipment were available.

US Lacrosse helps address this concern with their Equipment Grant Program-but it doesn't have the resources to provide this program for every program in the US. The Equipment Grant Program allows youth and high school programs (girls' and boys') to apply for an equipment grant for its program. Programs can receive up to 24 full sets of equipment, including sticks, helmets, arm pads, gloves, shoulder pads, and goalie equipment. This is a great opportunity for all start-up programs and every program should complete the application if it is in need of equipment.

If you don't qualify for the US Lacrosse Equipment Grant Program or choose to not apply, there are other methods for your organization to obtain equipment for beginning players. I've come across a few youth programs that implemented a system to provide season-long rental equipment for beginning players. I think this is a great idea. The equipment rental saves the parents hundreds of dollars, the beginner gets to join the lacrosse team and has all the required padding, and the rental serves as a fundraiser for the youth program; everyone is happy.

The size of your current youth league and the level of lacrosse interest in the community serve as barometers for how many rental sets of equipment your youth program should have available for rent. However, the more equipment sets your program can provide, the more beginning players you can accommodate. I have seen one youth program grow from 125 participants in 2008 to 260 participants in 2009. This program did not have rental equipment available and could have conceivably grown even larger during that year if it had equipment available for parents unwilling to make the full investment. I know of another youth program that offers year-long equipment rental and in 2009 it outfitted over 60 youth players. Many of these players likely would not have participated if the equipment rental was not available.

Other ways to get equipment:

If US Lacrosse isn't able to supply your program with equipment, where else can you find the gear you need? Here are a few good options.

• Ask for donations of old or ill fitting equipment from current and former lacrosse players. Youth players usually need to purchase new equipment every few years to keep up with their growing bodies. Ask families in your area to donate their old equipment to the youth program as their children outgrow their gear.
• Work with a local sports retail store to develop a partnership. Some lacrosse retailers will have old equipment that they're unable to sell because they believe it's too outdated. Negotiate with the retailer and have them donate the old equipment to the youth program. In return, your youth program could agree to actively support and direct all players to the retail store, where players can purchase additional gear, supplies, balls, and sticks.
• If there is a local high school lacrosse team (public or private), contact the coach or the team mom to see if the high school program will be upgrading its equipment anytime soon. High school teams will often supply their 40+ lacrosse team members with equipment. The equipment is owned by the high school lacrosse programs, and if they have ever upgraded their equipment, there's a good chance that they have all the old gear lying around somewhere. See if they are willing to donate the old gear to the youth lacrosse programs to support the growth of the sport in the area.
• If there is a main lacrosse retail store in your area that is unwilling to develop a partnership with your youth league, try looking for lacrosse equipment at competing retail stores. Often times, a community will have one large lacrosse retailer who dominates the market. Other chain sports stores will carry some lacrosse equipment and supplies to try and compete for the lacrosse market, but they're often unsuccessful because the youth players already established the main retailers as their favorite place to buy gear. If you go into one of these competing stores at the right time (try the end of the lacrosse season in May or June when stores are trying to get rid of their merchandise), you'll often find their equipment on sale with huge discounts. I once purchased multiple sets of equipment at one such sports store because all of their lacrosse gear was marked 80% off. They just weren't able to compete with the main lacrosse retailer and they wanted to get rid of all their equipment. Great bargain!
• If you have a store near you, Play It Again Sports is a great option for used equipment. Try to bargain the prices down if you're purchasing a number of old items and make sure the padding is in decent shape.

Renting the equipment:

Once you have some full equipment sets, it's time to advertise that equipment is available. You will need to decide the rental price for the equipment. Some youth leagues rent the entire set of equipment for only $25 a year (plus a $200 deposit which will be returned if all the gear is returned in decent shape). Others rent at a price slightly higher for the entire set or rent piece by piece ($15 for gloves, $20 for a helmet, etc). The fee for renting from your organization may depend on whether or not you were able to get the equipment for free.

Remember, lacrosse equipment doesn't fade, nor does it wear out quickly. I know players who have used the same padding for over 10 years. Youth program can likely rent out the same equipment for years. Making equipment available for beginners is a great way to support growth of the sport in your community. Don't delay-go find some equipment and give some youngsters in your community the opportunity to play this great sport!