The HEADstrong Foundation

There are many reasons that a person can fall in love with the sport of lacrosse. For some it’s the speed of the game while for others it’s the creativity. For the vast majority though, it is hard to ignore the strong sense of community that is within the sport. In just one example of many where this sense of community is present is with the HEADstrong Foundation. The HEADstrong Foundation is a non-profit organization that supplies financial, residential, and emotional support to any family affected by cancer. The reason this foundation is significant is because it is close to home for me. The foundation of based out of Ridley, Pennsylvania, where a young man was diagnosed with B-cell Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The name of this young man is Nicholas Colleluori and he was diagnosed during his sophomore year of college. He was playing division one lacrosse at Hofstra University at the time. Because of his condition, he was forced to drop out and begin treatment. This included chemotherapy, radiation, and a stem cell transplant. Sadly, within a year, Nicholas died. The Foundation since then has been helping people all over the country affected by cancer with whatever they need. There is a youth club lacrosse program named after the foundation which features all sorts of equipment and sticks that feature their distinct lime green color. This way, the kids can play for something bigger than themselves and they can also spread the word of the foundation throughout the country as they go play in tournaments throughout the year. Most of the money that is paid to play for this club goes directly to the Foundation. Many if not all of the coaches are heavily involved in the foundation and coach for free.

Not only is HEADstrong very significant around the club circuit, but also in the college game. Many teams will have HEADstrong themed games where all the team members elect to where the lime green laces in support or, the venue will use lime green nets instead of white. Other teams, like the Monmouth Men’s Lacrosse team, has been tasked to sell t-shirts with both the Monmouth logo as well as the HEADstrong logo on them. Then all the proceeds from t-shirt sales will go directly to the foundation. This is one of countless reasons why lacrosse has such a tight knit community that will always help one another when needed. Although the sport itself is fun to watch and play, many of the people involved help others in the most selfless ways possible. This is one of the reasons why many people across the country and I love the sport of lacrosse so much.