
Operation Baggataway To Collect at District 6 Playoffs at Nease This Week!
Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in Uncategorized.
I have to admit I did not really focus much on this charitable effort before I received the following letter from David Pounder about the collection efforts this week at Nease High School, the hosts of the District 6 playoffs. After reading the letter I decided to just put the whole thing up and ask the community to help out however they can. David noted that there is also a collection location in Boca Raton at Unlimited Lacrosse in Regency Court on the northwest corner of Jog Road and Yamato Road. According to the Operation Baggataway web site, which David has the link for in his letter, any youth equipment will be donated to programs in lesser advantaged areas, since it is likely the youth equipment isn’t big enough for soldiers. Perhaps other districts could also inquire about doing this too. I found the picture on the LaxAllStars websiteHere’s David’s letter . . . I wanted to personally reach out to you about Operation Baggataway. During the District 6 Playoffs at Nease we will have a table set up to receive old/used/new equipment to support this great cause. If you are not familiar with Operation Baggataway (http://www.operationbaggataway.com/) this was re-launched by the Shootout for Soldiers program and is designed to help send lacrosse gear to those men and women deployed or stationed overseas. Being a veteran, and with multiple deployments and extended duty overseas, this is something near and dear to my heart and I felt a strong desire to help support. Being a Soldier deployed or assigned overseas, it can be a pretty tough experience and traumatic. The military does a great job of providing support by bringing some of the comforts of home through their Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) program. However, they are often limited depending on the location, and are sometimes only as successful as the people running the program. Some places have a lot more than others. And for those deployed in hardship areas, MWR may be limited to helping provide equipment for a gym, or makeshift gym, movies, books, or organizing small scale activities – fun runs, etc. These are great, but at times you can only watch Anchorman so many times (not that it’s not a great movie), or hit the gym so much. When you get off a patrol or mission, you really need a release and find a way to get away. As we have seen from over 15 years of combat, finding ways to get away greatly helps with one’s mental health and can even help when returning home. Having a stick to go out and do wall ball or throw with a buddy goes a long way to helping with this. In addition to helping the Soldiers directly by giving them an outlet, Operation Baggataway is helping Soldiers build comradery, spread the game across cultures, and grow the game. Various collection points are set up across the country through Lacrosse Unlimited stores or by collection drives like this. We collect the gear and get it to them, they fix it up, and send it over for free. When Soldiers deploy, they can’t exactly load up a stick or helmet in the gear so this is a tremendous help. One quick story. My last assignment was in Germany. Matt had been playing for many years and loved the game, and we were really worried about him continuing to play during the assignment. Men’s lacrosse was popular but youth lacrosse was still very small, and only in certain locations – not where we were going. We reached out to the German men’s team and offered to start a youth lacrosse program there. With the help of our local Maryland club program, we ran an equipment drive, as well as received a very generous donation from STX, and sent the gear over with our household goods. We started a program with 8 kids comprised of German youth and dependents of deployed Soldiers and civilians. Some kids had never picked up a stick. Since then, the program has grown to over 25 kids, is a top team within the country, plays all over Europe, and one of the boys was selected to play for the German National Team at the U19 Championships last year. This is an example of the good this program can do. I am very appreciative of the support received from Coach Gurowski, Nease Lacrosse and the Nease Athletic Department to run this collection during the playoffs. With that in mind, what we are asking for is very simple – bring any used or new gear to Nease during either or both days of the District 6 Playoffs. I will have a collection point set up and receive whatever you bring. Preferred items in order of preference are sticks, gloves, helmets, pads and cleats. This summer I will take it up to Maryland and drop it off for the team there. Any gear is appreciated and will not be wasted. Obviously, everyone won’t be able to make it to Nease this week but I am open to being contacted about getting gear from people. Also, there is another drop off location at the Lacrosse Unlimited – Regency Court 3013 Yamato Rd Suite B7, Boca Raton, FL 33434 I would be very appreciative if there was a way to plug or retweet this effort. Thank you for your consideration and I would really appreciate it if you could spread the word to get as much support as possible. Dave Dave, we are more than happy to help spread the word for you!