Lakers Lacrosse fun event to raise funds and awareness

The Nipissing Lakers Lacrosse Club is holding an event that they hope will not only bring awareness to their team, and the sport overall, but put a little cash in their pocket to hopefully off-set some of the costs associated with playing.A marathon game will take place Saturday afternoon, weather permitting, on Nipissing Field at about noon.
Lacrosse Club head coach Jon Moore said they wanted to do something a little different as a fundraiser and they came up with this idea, not only helping themselves, but also offering the community a look at what the club is all about.
“We were looking for a unique fundraiser to help raise money to pay for our new helmets, gloves and jerseys and one of our sponsors made the suggestion to run a marathon lacrosse game,” Moore explained. “We thought in addition to helping us raise funds, it would also be a great way to help promote our team and the sport of lacrosse as a whole within North Bay by giving people a chance to try the game out.”
Moore said the game will likely run from noon until the evening, when they will decide to wrap things up. He added that the team will also offer a clinic to whoever wants to try the sport for themselves.
“We will be running a field lacrosse clinic for local minor lacrosse players from 10 a.m. till 11:30 a.m. for those interested in learning about the game of field lacrosse,” he said. “The game will be non-contact so anyone who wants to come out and try playing is welcome. All they will need is a helmet, gloves and some sort of chest protection like hockey shoulder pads.”
The idea is more than just raising money, although that is one of the main goals, Moore noted. There are two or three things he wants to accomplish while hosting this event and he hopes to have good attendance.
“The first goal is to build awareness of the sport in North Bay and grow the game of lacrosse. Much of what we do has that underlying goal,” Moore said. “Secondly we're using it to raise some money to help offset the costs of equipment.”
According to Moore, a successful day could go a long way to helping build awareness for his team, as well as some money to pay for equipment, fees and some of the other costs associated with playing lacrosse.
“We want this game to build awareness both at the university and in the city that we do have a team that exists and give people a chance to try out the game if they've ever thought about it. We would like to build a fan base through that awareness because having people at our games will help us play better at home next season,” Moore said. “More than anything, I would just like to encourage people to come out and participate in the game. I constantly meet people who say that they would have loved to play lacrosse growing up, but it was never an option for them. If they're part of that group, this is a great chance for them to try out the game with the highest quality players you're going to find in Northern Ontario. In addition to the team, we also have several players coming into town to play, including potentially one professional who has played for the Toronto Rock.”