Sticks for All Lacrosse Program

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Executive Summary

Sticks for All Lacrosse Program is a nonprofit in Maryland that introduces lacrosse to young people ages 8 to 14 from underrepresented communities who have had no prior access to the sport. Lacrosse's fastest growth is in affluent suburbs, and children in city and rural neighborhoods rarely get a chance to try it, even though lacrosse began as a traditional Native American game.

We lend every participant a stick, a helmet and pads, teach the basics in small groups and share the history of the game with Indigenous guest coaches and elders. Players who want more are connected with local club teams.

With this grant we will introduce about 100 young people to lacrosse in Year 1 at 3 park sites. We do not promise that any player will earn a scholarship or a college roster spot. We promise safe play, good coaching and a respectful welcome to the game.

Our Year 1 budget is about $135,000, growing to about $173,500 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 5 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a part-time Program Coordinator and three part-time coaches) and 8 by Year 5.

We are asking the Chesapeake Youth Sports Foundation for $42,000 for certified coach stipends, an equipment loan fund and field access fees. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

Sticks for All Lacrosse Program is a nonprofit organization in Maryland. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. Every young person should have the chance to try lacrosse, a game with deep roots in Native American communities, whatever their family's income or neighborhood.

What we do.
- Run free introductory lacrosse sessions twice a week at three park sites.
- Lend a stick, helmet and pads to every participant for the season.
- Teach catching, throwing, scooping, footwork and teamwork in small groups.
- Share the history of lacrosse as a traditional Native American game and invite Indigenous guest coaches and elders.
- Host a friendly jamboree at the end of each season.
- Identify athletes who want more and connect them with local club teams.

Our values. Respect for every participant, honesty with families, safety before winning and a place for every young person who wants to belong.

What we do not do. We do not charge families, and we never give cash to families. We do not promise any player a scholarship or a college roster spot. We do not give medical advice. We never let a player take part in contact drills without proper equipment and a trained coach. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of coaches, parents and community elders began offering free Saturday lacrosse clinics in a city park for children who had never held a stick. The clinics filled and families asked for more. We kept simple records of who came and what they said. This proposal asks for support to move from Saturday clinics to a steady program with paid, trained coaches and the equipment to match.

Problem & Opportunity

Lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing team sports, and its growth is concentrated in affluent suburbs. Children in city and rural neighborhoods rarely get a chance to try it, even though lacrosse began as a traditional Native American game.

Cost. Sticks, helmets, pads and club fees can cost several hundred dollars a season. Families with tight budgets cannot afford them, and equipment must be replaced as children grow.

Access. Lacrosse programs are concentrated far from the neighborhoods where our families live. Few schools in our area have teams before high school.

Safety and trust. Parents want to know that coaches are trained and that players wear proper equipment. They are wary of a sport they do not know.

Missed benefits. Young people who never try lacrosse miss a team sport with a growing path to college, and many miss a part of Native American history and culture.

What we hear.
- A mother says her son watches the high school team practice from the fence.
- A coach says most children have never held a lacrosse stick.
- A teacher says a student who started playing is learning to pass the ball and share credit.
- An elder says the game belongs to everyone who respects it.

We do not claim that a sports program can solve every challenge. We believe that a stick, a patient coach and a field can open a new sport to a young person.

Products & Services

Sticks for All Lacrosse Program gives youth ages 8 to 14 from underrepresented communities a safe, welcoming place to learn and play lacrosse.

How the program works.
1. Sites. We partner with three city parks that provide fields, and we bring sticks, helmets, goals and coaches.
2. Seasons. Fall and spring seasons, with two sessions a week for about eight weeks each, and a summer clinic.
3. Groups. Participants are grouped by age and experience, with no more than ten players for each coach.
4. Equipment. Every participant borrows a stick, a helmet and pads fitted for them.
5. Coaching. Coaches teach cradling, catching, passing, shooting and basic team play, with no checking at the introductory level.
6. History. Each session includes a short story about the origins of the game, with guest coaches and elders when possible.
7. Jamboree. A friendly end-of-season jamboree brings families together.

What a typical session looks like. Participants arrive and check in with a coach, warm up together, work on skills in small groups, play a short game or drill and finish with a talk about what went well. Coaches praise effort, correct mistakes kindly and make sure no one sits out.

Coaches. Our coaches are certified through US Lacrosse, pass a background check, complete our training and are paid a stipend.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. We welcome every young person, whatever their experience, and boys and girls both play.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Youth ages 8 to 14 from underrepresented communities who live near our partner parks and have had no access to lacrosse. Eligibility is based on school lunch status or income guidelines our board sets, and no young person is turned away for lack of skill.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our Saturday clinics we served full fields and kept a waiting list. Schools and park staff told us that many more children want to try than we can serve. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 100 young people at 3 park sites. By Year 5, with more coaches and sites, we plan to serve about 260.

Where participants come from.
- Schools, coaches and counselors.
- Park and recreation staff.
- Native American and community organizations.
- Families who tell a friend.

Who else benefits. Families gain a safe, free activity. Parks gain steady use of their fields. High school teams gain players who already know the game.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a young person with a stick in hand. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What young people can find today, and how we are different.

1. Club lacrosse. Strong programs for families that can pay. We offer a free introduction and point players to clubs when they are ready.

2. School teams. Good, and rare before high school.

3. Recreation department programs. Few offer lacrosse.

4. Private camps. Excellent and costly.

5. Backyard play. Fun, with no coaching or equipment.

What makes us different.
- Free to every participant.
- US Lacrosse certified coaches and small groups.
- Stick, helmet and pads provided.
- The history of the game taught with Indigenous voices.
- A path to club and school teams.

Why this gap matters. Existing programs do good work, and most serve families who can already pay or who live close to them. The young people we serve are the ones left over: they live in the wrong neighborhood, have the wrong schedule or have no one to ask. We are built to reach them.

We have spoken with club directors, school coaches and Native American community groups to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Schools. We will work with coaches and counselors to share a one-page sign-up form in English and Spanish.
- Parks. We will post flyers and hold open try-lacrosse days.
- Families. We will hold a short information night at each site before a season.
- Native American and community organizations. We will talk with leaders and elders.
- Word of mouth. Many players will find us through a friend.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching coaches and sponsors.
- Invite certified coaches, teachers and former players through clubs, schools and lacrosse groups.
- Offer an orientation, a background check and training in safety and in working with young people.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of participants and what families said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for families with the greatest need and for young people new to the sport. We keep a waiting list when teams are full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, skills learned, jamborees attended and how many participants return for a second season.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the coaches and coordinator, buy equipment, finalize the waiver, consent form and privacy policy with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Begin the fall season at three parks.
- Months 4 to 10: Run fall and spring seasons with two sessions a week and a jamboree at the end of each.
- Months 11 and 12: Run a summer clinic, survey players and families, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. Sessions are held on city park fields, provided at no or low cost. We store equipment in locked bins.

Safety and privacy.
- Introductory sessions have no checking, and every player wears a fitted helmet and pads.
- Every coach and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Two adults are present at every session, and no adult is ever alone with a young person.
- We keep an emergency plan and a first aid kit at every site, and families complete an emergency contact form.
- We keep records private, share them only with a family's permission and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $11,000 of equipment once at the start: loaner lacrosse stick sets (50) ($5,000), helmets and pads, first sets ($2,500), portable goals and balls ($2,500), first aid kits and locking storage ($1,000). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. A part-time Program Coordinator, paid $24,000 a year, handles schedules and sign-ups. Three part-time certified coaches, each paid a stipend of $9,400 a year, lead sessions. We add a coach for every new site.

Management & Organization

Terry Whitehorse, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work as a coach who grew up playing lacrosse in my community and wanted other children to have the same chance. I will complete the training we require of our coaches so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Coaches. Part-time coaches lead sessions and jamborees, and each is certified through US Lacrosse and passes a background check. These stipends are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a lacrosse coach, a teacher, a parent, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney, a tribal community member and a former participant. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A school athletic director, a park supervisor and a club director give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $46,000 a year; program Coordinator (part-time), paid $24,000 a year; uS Lacrosse Certified Coach (part-time stipend), paid $9,400 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Serve about 100 young people at 3 park sites.
- Run at least two full seasons and a summer session.
- Have at least 85 percent of participants attend most sessions.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants return for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions and games attended, from our records.
- Skills learned and goals met, from the coach's checklist.
- Equipment issued and returned, from our log.
- Participant and family feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 140 young people at 3 park sites.
- Year 3: About 180 young people at 4 park sites.
- Year 4: About 220 young people at 5 park sites.
- Year 5: About 260 young people at 6 park sites.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 33 percent of our budget, down from about 61 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $42,000 from the Chesapeake Youth Sports Foundation for certified coach stipends, an equipment loan fund and field access fees, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: US Lacrosse certified coach stipends, three sites, part time, $28,000.
- Supplies: Equipment loan fund: sticks, helmets and pads for 100 youth, $10,000 (other funds add $3,000).
- Other: Field access fees and program administration, $4,000.

Other money in the program. This request is about 51% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $135,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $5,600 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $82,000; city Parks Department Partnership $25,000; lacrosse Industry Sponsors $20,000; individual Donors $8,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $46,000; program Coordinator (part-time) $24,000; uS Lacrosse Certified Coach (part-time stipend) $9,400; equipment Replacement and Maintenance about $5,000; field Access Fees about $5,000; transportation about $5,000; jamborees and Tournaments about $3,000; coach Certification and Training about $3,000; administration and Insurance about $8,000; about $4,200 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $18,300 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $5,000 for loaner lacrosse stick sets (50); $2,500 for helmets and pads, first sets; $2,500 for portable goals and balls; $1,000 for first aid kits and locking storage; $2,000 for attorney review of the waiver, consent and privacy policy; $1,800 for banners, bilingual flyers and a simple website; $1,500 for background checks and coach certification for the first season; $2,000 for first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($18,300), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $31,800, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $50,500. We start with $6,000 from our founding board and $47,000 in startup support from a community foundation and a lacrosse equipment company, $53,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $135,000 in Year 1 to about $173,500 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $82,000, $68,000, $64,000, $60,500 and $56,500 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: city Parks Department Partnership from $25,000 to $49,000; lacrosse Industry Sponsors from $20,000 to $44,000; individual Donors from $8,000 to $24,000. Our surplus is planned at about $5,600 in Year 1, about $5,900 in Year 2, about $6,700 in Year 3, about $7,900 in Year 4 and about $8,400 in Year 5. We grow from 3 park sites to 6 by Year 5, adding a part-time coach for each new site.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $44,400, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $5,400 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per player. In Year 1, our total costs are about $1,294 per player served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more player served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $635 per player.

After the grant. City parks funding, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor a team or a season by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and the city that want a safe, free lacrosse option for every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Certified coaches, proper equipment, groups matched by age and skill, a written emergency plan and insurance.
- A site is no longer available. We keep agreements with more than one site and a plan for bad weather.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share lesson plans.
- Low attendance. We adjust sites, times and rides based on family feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of players and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $82,000 in Year 1, growing to $56,500 in Year 5.
- City Parks Department Partnership: $25,000 in Year 1, growing to $49,000 in Year 5.
- Lacrosse Industry Sponsors: $20,000 in Year 1, growing to $44,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors: $8,000 in Year 1, growing to $24,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $46,000; program Coordinator (part-time) $24,000; uS Lacrosse Certified Coach (part-time stipend) $9,400.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: equipment Replacement and Maintenance $5,000; field Access Fees $5,000; transportation $5,000; jamborees and Tournaments $3,000; coach Certification and Training $3,000; administration and Insurance $8,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year.
- Equipment: $11,000 at the start, then $2,000 to $3,000 a year.
- Startup costs: $18,300, paid once from $53,000 in startup money.
- Young people served: about 100 in Year 1, growing to about 260 in Year 5. Sites: 3 in Year 1, growing to 6 by Year 5. Seasons run fall and spring, with two sessions a week for about eight weeks and a summer clinic.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs