By Madison Butkus
Hometown Weekly Reporter
At the start of the month, the Walpole Youth Lacrosse League (WYLL) held their ribbon cutting ceremony for the official opening of their new Lacrosse Wall. All were welcome to attend this ceremony, which was conducted between lacrosse games happening throughout the day.
Residents gathered together at the S.M. Lorusso & Son's Athletic Complex, thrilled that the Lax Wall is finally complete and ready for use. This is a concrete structure that is used to throw and catch a ball in rapid succession, improving endurance, coordination and skills. Moments before the start of the ceremony, children could be seen using the wall with their friends all while having a blast.
President of the WYLL, Jeff Hockman, kicked off the start of the ceremony with an amazing speech. “We are excited to welcome you all today,” Hockman stated, “and today we want to, on behalf of the board of directors, coaches and families, welcome you to our ribbon cutting ceremony. This is really a lot of fun. We do want to take this opportunity to thank a bunch of people who contributed to this happening today. Last year, we started thinking about planning a build for a lacrosse wall. We were planning something half as big with no fence and no turf. What we ended up with here is something that is way better than we all envisioned. And there are people to thank for that. First we would like to thank our Town Administrator Jim Johnson and all of the town boards. Second, we would like to thank all of the businesses who helped us with this project. They are all on our website, please check it out and support them like they supported us. For all of the kids that sold tickets for fundraising and the families who went door to door and bought the tickets, thank you. You all have a little part in what we have today. Finally, we would like to thank Rolls Royce who are from Walpole, and they have been here for more than 50 years. When we reached out trying to set up a partnership, they stepped up big. With all of you, we ended up with something we never could have imagined, so thank you everyone.”
Towards the end of his speech, Hockman also mentioned the Wall Ball Challenge that is currently happening. According to the WYLL website, “We’re excited to introduce you to our first ever Wall Ball Challenge. In addition to drastically improving stick skills, we will be offering some incredible rewards. Including cool Walpole Lax swag, helmet stickers, as well as having their name added to a banner/plaque to be hung at the Walpole Lacrosse Wall at the S.M. Lorusso & Sons Athletic Complex. There is NO BETTER WAY to develop elite stick skills, than spending time on a lacrosse wall or rebounder. The goal of our Wall Ball Challenge is to encourage our players to learn and understand the importance of creating a wall ball routine at home. When the work has been put in, a player will develop a very smooth and fluid passing motion that they can easily take to the playing field.”
For more information about the Lax Wall and/or the Wall Ball Challenge, please visit the WYLL website at www.walpoleyouthlacrosse.org.
