Coaches, Alumni Offer County's Lone Summer LAX League

As the sport of lacrosse continues to gain popularity in Bergen County, several former athletes and coaches banded together eight years ago to create the only high school boy's summer lacrosse league in the county. Since then, Black Diamond Lacrosse has continued to expand with this season featuring over 120 athletes from 13 high schools competing in a six-team league in Oradell.

“Black Diamond Lacrosse provides lacrosse players from Northern New Jersey the opportunity to play competitive lacrosse in a controlled relaxed environment and allows them to work on their individual and team lacrosse skills in a real time game setting," head organizer Craig Lapierre said. Lapierre is a former  coach and currently leads the Union City team.

During the summer months, the athletes are given the chance to work on skills that they may not have during the season alongside their regular season teammates as well as others from around the area. Lapierre and his staff members Dan Long, Mike Senkier and John De Armas also have the participants focus on creating stronger team bonds by experiencing their regular season opponents as friends of the game.” 

 “This year we were extremely fortunate to land a home at the  in Oradell and I couldn't have been more pleased," Lapierre said. "It says a lot about a town when a sports facility of such high quality is available to the residents and to local leagues and teams. For there to be so much care in planning, constructing, and maintaining the DPAC, it shows that Oradell deserves to be the athletic center or Bergen County. We look forward to working with Oradell in future summers to make DPAC our permanent home, as we expand to include more schools that carry a lacrosse program, and reach out to more hometown players.” 

In prior years, Black Diamond Lacrosse has spent its summer competitions at   and 

Each of the athletes are split into one of six teams for the summer nine game round-robin season: Maryland, Loyola, Duke, Notre Dame, Hopkins and Syracuse. While Duke had the highest regular season record of 7-2, it was Loyola that surprised the field in the final games to come through in a tight 8-7 stunning win for the 2012 championship. Loyola was comprised of many athletes from Union City.

“So many of the high school lacrosse players from the county who have spent their summers with Black Diamond have gone on to play in college at Division I schools and have played in the NCAA lacrosse tournament," Lapierre said. "From North Carolina, to the US Naval Academy, to Maryland, these programs have been affected by the players of Black Diamond Lacrosse. Others have gone on to play for Div II and Div III schools as well, and some have even won championships in their divisions. That truly makes us proud of their accomplishments, and honored to have been a part of their success.” 

While the 2012 season has come to an end, Black Diamond Lacrosse also offers individual training sessions. For more information about Black Diamond Lacrosse, email Craig Lapierre, Dan Long or info@blackdiamondlacrosse.com.

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