Tuesday, June 6 was a night that will live on in the hearts of the fourth grade Manhasset PAL boys lacrosse team forever. It marked the first annual Munsey Park verses Shelter Rock Showdown, a game that split the boys onto two teams, based on the elementary schools they attend. The teams competed to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a cause that hit close to home with one of the player’s family members battling this disease.
The boys worked hard, both on and off the field and with the help of their generous families and the community, raised over $15k for this amazing foundation. And more so, they learned a valuable lesson that alone they are strong but together they are stronger. In a town where so much emphasis is placed on sports and winning, it was refreshing to see a team that placed an emphasis on helping others. These are young, impressionable boys and showing them the importance of this so early on is key.
“Here, expectations are high to compete at a high level, so it was nice to have the team focus on charity for this game,” Coach AJ Pegno who coached the boys all year, along with the many volunteer Dad’s, said. “Especially in a year that delivered so many challenges to these kids. They came together as one and put on a night that lifted up the town.”
So many valuable lessons were taken away from this event and all that attended can attest that despite the fact that there had to be a winning and losing team (Munsey Park was victorious with a final score of 10-4) ALL the boys were winners in this game, regardless of what the scoreboard showed.
There was lots of celebration and cheering throughout the game and school pride and spirit was hard to miss with fans displaying Orange and Blue for their school colors. But it was the spectacular rainbow that appeared towards the end of the game that literally seemed to hug the field and make all that saw it pause and reflect on what an amazing community here in Manhasset we all share.
Please consider joining the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Registry and help a loved Mom and member of our community by visiting giftoflife.org/swabforsondra.
