MANCHESTER, NH – When you ask Brianna Kuehn what she wants to be when she grows up, the answer is simple: a professional lacrosse player.
Recently, in fact, Brianna wrote a report on that very subject, having had the opportunity to interview four-time first-team All-American women’s lacrosse player for the University of North Carolina and Team USA representative Jamie Ortega, as part of the project.
“She seemed like she really likes playing the game, so I’d like to do that when I’m older too, be a professional lacrosse player,” said Brianna.
She has an opportunity to continue to grow and possibly one day make that dream a reality thanks to the Manchester Thunder girls youth lacrosse program, which she has participles in for the last half decade.
“I really like my teammates, and like, it’s really fun to practice because you get some strict practices, where you learn stuff, but you also get some practice where you can just have fun,” she said.
Now playing on the Thunder U12 team, Brianna has a knack for the game, said her mother, Courtney Kuehn.
More importantly, she added, is the community aspect of being part of the team, which extends to parents and siblings as well.
Community connection
“Honestly, it’s like a family. Everybody just knows everybody, we all support each other, we help pick up the kids,” said the elder Kuehn. “Everything’s been great … it’s worth the commitment.”
Steve Raymond, in his fifth season coaching for the Thunder, has worked with girls at the U12 and U14 levels and said the sport provides a great outlet for the players.
“It gives them an opportunity to get outside, be part of a team, especially in the city,” he said. “There’s not always a lot of opportunities, you know, especially for sports like lacrosse. So I think it takes girls from all the different schools in the city and they all get to play together on one team and develop those relationships.”
Many of the girls, said Raymond, have been playing together since first or second grade and are now on their way to high school.
Speaking of high school …
Creating a feeder pipeline between the Thunder and the Manchester school district would be a big boost to high school programs, said Manchester Memorial High School head coach David Gocklin.
“The first three weeks of the season I have to work with new girls – teaching stick skills – who are playing lacrosse for the first time,” he said.
Gocklin said he has encouraged those looking to improve while in high school to join an indoor lacrosse league. He also runs offseason workouts after the holiday break consisting of weight training and skill sessions.
In an effort to build the sport and encourage the next generation of athletes, he has brought some of his players to visit Manchester middle schools to talk about lacrosse girls and has even invited seventh and eighth graders to participate in high school practices.
“These are just some of the things we’ve tried to do to build the sport,” he said. “One challenge we are faced with for the girls here in Manchester is the cost of some of the lacrosse programs offered. The other is that lacrosse is not the girls’ first sport.”
Reducing net cost
Thunder co-director Amanda Morehouse acknowledges that lacrosse can be more expensive than sports such as soccer and basketball, due to cost of sticks and protective equipment, but said the organization does its best to make the sport as affordable as possible in order to attract and retain more youth as they work to continue building the sport in the Queen City.
The season costs $150 per athlete – $130 for early-bird registrants – and consists of indoor practice until Manchester releases its fields for the spring, then two outdoor practices a week, a preseason festival in Epping, eight regular-season games and an end-of-the-season festival in Amherst.
Morehouse also said the program offers financial aid to those who need it and also works through other avenues to keep the price reasonable.
“We worked with MG Sports this year for a fundraiser to raise money to purchase new scoreboards and to help with cost,” she said. “We also have a few community sponsors who help offset our costs.”
Sticking with it
The fact that the Thunder girls lacrosse program is still in existence is success story – one filled with overcoming adversity and volunteers stepping up to see it through.
Youth lacrosse began in the 1990s through the Manchester Police Athletic League (MPAL), however, the sport was cut in 2015 leaving a void for families hoping to introduce and grow their children in the sport.
Worse yet, the program lost its leadership due to a move out of state.
Not to be detoured, a small group of dedicated parents and volunteer coaches rallied to keep the girls program alive, though the boys program was not revived.
After one season of surviving as an independent club, the program moved into the Boys and Girls Club of Manchester and changed its name from the “Thunder Sticks” to the “Thunder,” and then returned to independent status after three years.
Finally gaining traction toward the later part of the decade, the program was again stunted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Raymond said the spring season was cancelled that year and many girls turned their attention to other sports.
“I think we’re finally now starting to get going again, which is good to see,” he said, “especially some of the big numbers for the younger groups.”
Though participation again is on the rise, with roughly 60 girls participating on the Thunder’s four teams (U8, U10, U12 and U14), Raymond said there’s always a need for more coaches and volunteers.
“We could always use more parents and community members to step up and keep these programs going,” he said. “You know, this is such a big benefit to the kids and we just really need more people to be part of it. The more volunteers we have, the easier it is to run the program, keep it going, and get more girls into it.”
The program is now affiliated with the New Hampshire Youth Lacrosse Association (NHYLA), which brings together more than 310 independent teams from 36 different communities around the state for competition, including the annual NHYLA Festival each June in Amherst.
“The goal of the program is to provide lacrosse instruction in a fun way so we can help grow the game,” said Morehouse. “Due to the hard work and dedication of devoted parents, and local sponsors, the Thunder continues to offer girl’s lacrosse to Manchester residents on four teams from K through 8th grade, a number of which moved on to play in high school, on club teams and in college.”
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