Lacrosse takes root in B-N

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — It was a chance meeting of two people on a rainy day in 2011 while waiting in line for a cup of coffee.

Vince Rasa was a busy dad with two lacrosse-playing sons who needed commutes from Bloomington-Normal to the Chicago suburbs for practices and games. He noticed the jacket of Andy Grisinger, the person in front of him, had a lacrosse logo on it.

At the time, lacrosse was virtually nonexistent in Bloomington-Normal.

“I tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘I need to talk to you,’” Vince said.

Rasa and Grisinger were new to the community at the time. They shared something else in common: a desire to see lacrosse as an option for youths in Bloomington-Normal.

That planted the lacrosse seed in Bloomington-Normal. It has led to the creation of the Bloomington-Normal Warriors Lacrosse Club and the sport now being offered at four Intercity high schools in 2022.

Saints join the fun

Normal Community, Normal West and Bloomington high schools have had a co-op team — the Purple IronCats — since 2020.

Central Catholic has added boys lacrosse this spring with Rasa serving as head coach. The roster includes 20 boys, most of whom had never played a high school game before.

“There has been wonderful support from the school, administration and parents,” Rasa said. “They’ve bought into lacrosse as a program.”

The Saints lost their first game, 4-2, to Purple IronCats, but recorded the program’s first win April 28 with a 9-3 victory against the co-op.

“For us to be able to compete and be in the game, I walked away feeling optimistic about the opportunities are for lacrosse at Central Catholic,” Rasa said.

Some of the Saints’ players had come up through the Warriors program. They and their parents expressed an interest in forming a team at the high school. Rasa, who had also served as coach of the Illinois State University club team for five years, had run lacrosse clinics at Central Catholic and offered help in launching the program.

Athletic director Hud Venerable needed more than a consultant, though. The Saints needed a coach.

“After talking with Hud and Principal Sean Foster and knowing some of the young men who would be on the team, I just thought we couldn’t have an opportunity to play this spring be lost because they couldn’t find a head coach,” Rasa said.

Rasa sees momentum building for the sport at Central Catholic.

“I would not be surprised if we don’t have 30 kids out for the team next year,” he said. “The interest is there, and just as importantly, the support from the school and families is there.”

Lacrosse’s B-N beginnings

Rasa and Grisinger’s coffee encounter became the convergence of a love of the sport and fulfilling a community need.

Grisinger played lacrosse in college, while Rasa continued to learn more about the game by attending coaching conferences, webinars and reading all he could to develop his coaching chops. Along with Mike Buelow, the three were integral in the grassroots beginnings of the Warriors’ program.

The club formed as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, created a board of directors and Grisinger became the first head coach and later headed up the girls program.

“We practiced anywhere we could in town,” Rasa said. “Bloomington-Normal parks and recreation departments were very generous to help us find field space. The last year or two, we have shared Nord Fields in Bloomington along with the Millennium FC soccer club.”

Player participation reached its height of 150 boys and girls across all age groups. Today, the Warriors have about 80 players in the program as it works to return to form just as many youth sports programs are following the pandemic.

Finding high school support

“From Day 1, we envisioned the Warriors being a feeder program for the local high schools,” Rasa said.

Buelow, who also coaches boys’ teams in the Warriors program, began conversations with local athletic directors in 2017.

“Adding a sport to public high schools is difficult,” Buelow said. “Budgets are tight, so to be able to add a sport we had to come up with a unique model.”

Once the school board signed off in 2018, Friends of Bloomington Normal Lacrosse was created as a fundraising arm. It raised enough money to provide start-up funds and operational costs for lacrosse to be offered as a co-op between three high schools — with no financial obligation to either school or athletic budget.

Expenses to start the program were about $25,000, while each team needs about $10,000 per season to function, Buelow said.

“FOBNL pays for everything — buses, uniforms, officials, equipment and a stipend for coaches,” he said. “We’ve made it a zero-cost program for the school districts.”

More than 50 boys came out for lacrosse in the first year in 2020, which was enough to field a varsity and junior varsity. Covid canceled the season just two weeks into practice, setting the program back for its first competitive season in 2021.

“Covid hurt,” Buelow said. “But our positive momentum is back with our rosters the last two years nearing 30.”

Buelow envisions a day when programs at each high school will be able to sustain their own teams, and like other Intercity sports, develop healthy rivalries and compete against each other.

“It feels like it’s a few years off, but if any of the high school programs are able to split off, that’s a sign the sport is continuing to grow,” Buelow said.

There is a level of satisfaction of seeing lacrosse take off in the community, Rasa says.

“It’s definitely something we are proud of,” Rasa said. “It came out of a love for the sport and grew because others loved it as well. We are going into our 12th year. We’ve survived a pandemic, a shortage of field space and other challenges. Knowing I had a hand in it is gratifying, but I’ll be the first one to tell you there’s no what this gets off the ground without a lot of people contributing.”

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