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History of Optimist Lacrosse
In 1987, Jeff Pettit and Bob Bush, former college and club lacrosse players, initiated a youth lacrosse program jointly sponsored by the Rose Tree-Media and Havertown Optimist Clubs. The organization fielded two teams in the newly-founded Southeastern Pennsylvania Youth Lacrosse Association (SEPYLA). Due to the tremendous interest in both communities, Rose Tree-Media and Havertown went their separate ways after 1994.
The Rose Tree-Media program enjoyed tremendous growth and now operates 5 teams in SEPYLA in addition to its intramural program. In 1999, Gene Ferraro organized its successful girls program. In addition to their league schedules, Optimist teams compete in tournaments in New York, New Jersey and Maryland. A highlight was participation in the first-ever World Youth games in Manchester, England in 1994.
The players who first started their lacrosse careers with Optimist Lacrosse have found success at such lacrosse powers as Penncrest High School, Episcopal Academy, Haverford School, and Malvern Prep. and well as in numerous other secondary programs. The following colleges are just a few of those where Optimist players have enjoyed great success:
West Chester Villanova Rutgers Elmira Penn State Lehigh Oberlin Goucher Delaware Whittier Amherst Cornell St. Joseph's Washington Syracuse
F.& M. Roger Williams Gettysburg Va. Wesleyan Bucknell Towson Virginia
U. of Penn. Colby Fairleigh-Dickinson Va. Tech. Arizona Wingate
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