Lacrosse in Liberty City continues to grow
Lacrosse is one of the least racially diverse sports in the NCAA with an overwhelming number of white athletes participating and very few Black players.
However, a group called the Friends of Liberty City Lacrosse is doing its best to bring more minorities to a sport that has a rich history that dates more than 900 years to its Native American roots.
The current attempted change in lacrosse’s demographics, locally at least, started in April of 2022, when three men — Charles Gibson, Mike Appleton and Brian Neff — got together to bring the sport to Athalie Range Park, located at 525 NW 62nd St. in Liberty City.
“This was Charles’ idea, and he wanted something for the kids to do in the football offseason,” Appleton said. “The Irony is that none of us knew much about lacrosse at the time.”
Initially there were 30 kids enrolled (for free) in the lacrosse program, all of them boys. But now, less than four years later, there are about 70 boys and 10 girls competing in lacrosse while representing the Belafonte Tacolcy Center in Liberty City.
Last month, the program had a significant event as it brought in Myles Jones to put on a two-day clinic to help the kids improve their skills.
Jones, who is Black, won two national titles at Duke and is already a six-time All-Star in the pro ranks.
“I can identify with these kids because when I was their age I didn’t have access to the best equipment, either,” Jones told the Herald.
“Some of these kids need a male figure to look up to as a hero who looks like them.”
Added Jones: “It was cool for me to be in Miami with the kids so they could hear my message straight from my voice.”
Part of that message is that playing lacrosse gives young Liberty City athletes another option — other than football and basketball — to getting a college scholarship.
But, for a long time, those lacrosse opportunities haven’t been there for inner-city kids.
As per the NCAA’s Office of Diversity, their most recent survey shows that 85.5% of men’s college lacrosse players are White. For women, the number is 84%.
Conversely, in 2024, just 3.4% of the men’s NCAA Division I lacrosse players were Black.
As exclusionary as those numbers sound, the sport has become significantly more diverse since 2012, when 91% of college lacrosse players were White and just 2.3% were Black.
Part of the reason why inroads have been made is that the Friends of Liberty City have been preceded by similar programs in New York; Boston; Baltimore; Philadelphia; and Los Angeles. More recently, Atlanta and Denver have made similar efforts.
In Liberty City, Appleton said he Gibson and Neff paid for the lacrosse program out of their own pockets for the first year. None of the kids pay a fee to play, and all the equipment is donated/purchased for them.
In 2023, the program starting getting donations from various airlines due to Appleton’s and Neff’s work and connections in that industry.
In addition, the program caught a break when the City of Miami allowed the Friends of Liberty City Lacrosse to use Rang Park for free.
“The [City of Miami parks manager Ken Simmons] said, ‘I love it. This is what we need,’” Appleton said. “He said, ‘If you don’t charge the kids, we won’t charge you.’”
Recently, Range Park got a “seven-figure” upgrade, according to Appleton, and that includes money to resurface the field and install new bleachers.
Indeed, the Friends of Liberty City Lacrosse have a lot of, well, friends.
For example, Karla Torres, who volunteers her time as an administrative assistant, handles many tasks, including scheduling; ordering uniforms; organizing fund-raisers; and making flyers to promote the program.
“I try to take things off the plate of the coaches,” Torres said. “I also huddle with the kids and make sure they shake hands, look people in the eyes … You know, that mother scenario.”
As for coaching, some amazing experts have donated their time. For example, Kurt Lunkenheimer, who won three national titles as a player for Princeton in the 1990s, works with the kids, including his 12-year-old son, Knox.
“I love coaching kids and helping them become better players and better people,” said Lunkenheimer, a 49-year-old attorney. “I love seeing the smiles on their faces when they have even the smallest bits of success.”
Appleton said the program’s first players from 2022 are now eighth-graders, and some of those kids are getting scholarship offers to become lacrosse student-athletes at private schools like Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, Coconut Grove Ransom Everglades and Miami Country Day.
Landing at any of those schools could help them — in a few years — get scholarships to play college lacrosse.
Appleton, who is hoping to grow this program to 300 kids, said nobody in the organization takes a salary, and any money donated goes directly to pay for equipment and travel costs.
“They are the greatest kids,” Appleton said of the youngsters who are in this program, “and they deserve this opportunity.”
IF YOU GO
What: Youth-league lacrosse
Where: Athalie Range Park, located at 525 NW 62nd Street in Liberty City.
When: The season runs from February to May, and this year it includes trips to tournaments in Orlando and Hershey, Pa.
Who: Friends of Liberty City Lacrosse hosts kids who want to play the sport, ages 14-under, 12-under, 10-under and 8-under.
Cost: Free for all players.
Contact: Karla Torres at 786 718-6309; karla_torres31@yahoo.com