2012

July 2012 Brooklyn Lacrosse was founded by Joe Nocella, Deborah Nocella and Khalid West. Our first event was a free clinic at the Flatbush YMCA on July 28th, 2012. Originally named the "Brooklyn Battery Lacrosse Club", we went on to have free Saturday clinics in August at the Parade Grounds.  At this time, we were joined by Tom Akel, Phiil Caulfield, Chris Moran and Paul McKenna. In August we were the recipient of the US Lacrosse First Stick Grant, which really helped our program along.  In addition, we received major guidance from Harry Jacobs and Charlie Russo at the Long Island Chapter of US Lacrosse.

Fall 2012 saw 65 kids running around at the Parade Grounds in Brooklyn every Sunday from 4p to 6pm.  daylight savings time meant that many practices were ended with sprints in the dark. Not quite organized into teams just yet, but we knew that was coming. We also had Friday sessions at the Bed-Stuy YMCA all Fall.


2013

Winter 2013, we changed our name to "Brooklyn Lacrosse" to represent the mission and reach that we had for the program. Also at this time, Girls Director Shari Appollon, and Seth Basham joined Brooklyn Lacrosse.  We attended the US Lacrosse Convention, and came away with some great tools for our growth. It was also during this time that John Christmas joined our Advisory Board. Ingrid Butterer, and Seth Basham joined our Board at this time. Shari Appollon also joind BLC,a nd the girls program was formally created.

Spring 2013 was played exclusively at Pier 5, and featured 221 boys and girls on 11 teams. Highlights included the 3/4 Boys playing at Citi Field, welcoming teams from Pennsylvania , Harlem and Brooklyn for home games, and traveling to Jackson NJ and Somers NY for some great boys tournaments. The girls program spent the Spring getting up to speed with practices and 7v7 scrimmages.  They also visited games at Rutgers, LIU and Wagner.

Summer 2013 opened the gates at Pier 5 with free clinics all Summer.  We had over 800 kids participate, and even played a scrimmage at the Brooklyn Cyclones Stadium in August.  We were also honored to have Shamel and Rhamel Bratton conduct a clinic. .It was also during this time that Ginger Miles joined our Advisory Board. We were also joined by Board Members Mike Linowes, Robert Winters and Ed O'Donnell.

Fall 2013 had 350 kids on 11 teams at Pier 5 every Sunday morning.  Boys had scrimmages with our friends from Harlem, while the girls continued to practice hard, and ended the season with an "Orange Out" practice with many alumni from Syracuse. The Fall also saw us develop or relationship with Rob Nesbitt at Apple Lacrosse, NYC's only lacrosse store. It was during this time that we became the biggest lacrosse program in Brooklyn. Jodi Susman and Alile Elderidge joined our Board at this time.


2014

Winter 2014: According to US Lacrosse, Brooklyn Lacrosse sent the largest coach contingent (16) of any youth program in the country to their Convention. This education will benefit our program for many years. Winter session started in January ay Cunningham IS 234 and McLaughlin Park.

Spring 2014 saw Brooklyn Lacrosse compete with 425 players on 15 teams.  A new high School Club was added for boys and girls.  For the first time, Brooklyn Lacrosse practiced at multiple sites, multiple times during the week. Another BLC first was multiple teams at each age group.  Highlighs on the boys side included an undefeated High School Club, the 1/2 Boys going undefeated at Somers Tournament, the 7/8 boys have a 9-6 record against the best teams in the region, as well as victories for the 5/6 and 3/4 boys. Girls highlights in progress.

Summer 2014: Brooklyn lacrosse had 4 free summer clinics at Pier 5, welcoming hundreds of new players to the sport.

Fall 2014: Brooklyn Lacrosse did alot with a little this Fall. Reduced to one 91 yard fiels for 4 hours, Brooklyn Lacrosse welcomed over 300 playes in their fall program.  Club leadership devised a  5 on 5 box system that kept players moving and playing, with lots of touches. As we will always face field space issues, this Fall was a very successful experiment.  Boys and girls scrimmages with teams from Harlem and the Crescents. The girls also went on a college visit/clinic trip to Bryant and Brown. Girls program was also awarded a US Lacrosse First Stick Grant