Getting behind MetroLacrosse with the MLL

In a sport played by organized teams for about 150 years (there are records of lacrosse games as far back as the 12th century), 10-year-old MetroLacrosse is something quite new: a program aimed at breaking down the disparity between sports programs available to urban youth in comparison to their suburban counterparts. Formed in Boston in 2000 in the same year that Major League Lacrosse first took to the field, MetroLacrosse now brings its unique blend of sport, personal development and educational outreach to urban communities across the nation.

To commemorate the 10th anniversary of MetroLacrosse, New Balance has created a custom uniform for the 2010 MLL All-Star Game, inspired by the success of this program in Boston's urban communities. All game-worn jerseys from the All-Star game at Harvard Stadium on July 8th, 2010 will be autographed by the players (including Boston Cannons midfielder and league scoring leader Matt Poskay) and auctioned-off to benefit the continued work of MetroLacrosse.

The 2010 MLL All-Star Jersey



In another first, two high school students (and MetroLacrosse players), and one MetroLacrosse alumnus who now works for the organization, collaborated this year with New Balance, Major League Lacrosse and Soldier Design to develop the 2010 All-Star Shooting Shirts - performance tees worn for warm-up and under game jerseys. Quinee Valenzona, Georgina Dominique and Danielle Lacey, each with an interest in design, worked with Soldier to explore designs that would be both emblematic of not only the city in which they play, but also the mission of MetroLacrosse itself.

First, the girls sketched their ideas:


From there, designs were put up on the wall for deliberation:


Each girl explained the thought process behind her team's design:


They then worked to articulate their vision to Soldier's designers:


...and assisted in getting the details precisely right:


The result of all of that hard work and collaboration:

The 2010 MLL All-Star Shooting Shirt
The final uniform design — the unanimous choice of all three young women, New Balance and Major League Lacrosse — will be unveiled during the MLL Media Night on Wednesday, July 7, 2010. The game-worn jerseys will be available for public auction from July 8th to July 18th, 2010 on the Major League Lacrosse website. All auction proceeds will directly fund the ongoing work of bringing not only the love of a sport, but an ongoing commitment to personal growth and education to urban communities.

By way of encouraging support for this unique, non-traditional program, New Balance will match all donations made via the auction of these game jerseys. We encourage our entire community to help celebrate the ongoing success of a program, a sport and a city we hold close to our hearts.