Special to The Citizen

AUBURN - Since the late 80's the Auburn Women's Box Lacrosse League has been giving players the chance to keep their game sharp through the offseason.

“Jim Burnett got it started,” Rich Lattimore, who along with Tony Musso, runs the league. “It kind of tapered off for a while, but we have been resurrecting it over the last few years.”

Since Lattimore and Musso got involved the league has had some significant growth. At one point there were only four teams with many girls playing on all four teams.

But today, the league supports six teams all with their own players.

“We've kind of picked it up and we've ran with it,” Lattimore said. “We've had some steady growth with players that really are dedicated and love the game.”

A love of the game that doesn't end when the season is over.

“I pretty much play year round,” Ashley Hayes said. “It helps to keep a stick in your hand and keep playing as much as you can.”

This summer's players represent a diverse cross section of skills and experience, drawing players who are just making the move from modified to junior varsity and all the way up to the collegiate level.

“My coach recommended this to me,” first-year player Christine DeSocio said. “My coach thought that it would really help my skill level get better and at the same time it has been really fun.”

Molly Burnett, a recent graduate of Johns Hopkins and an Auburn native, said that she has been a longtime player in the league, but this year decided to come back as a referee.

“I've been playing since 97,” Burnett said. “I've come back every summer to play and I still wanted to be a part of it. It can be kind of hard to be a ref, because I still want to get in there and play. I wish more girls would come back after college and get involved. But it is really great to see how much the league has grown since I started playing.”

While the league has become more structured it is still wide open, without any coaches or demands on players to practice, but Lattimore said with the help of people like Burnett it has become more instructional.

“We try to keep it fun,” Lattimore said. “That is what it is all about really. But with someone like Molly, she can take players aside and try to help them out a little, give them a few tips. I think it really helps the players out.”

Burnett said that while she still has the itch to play, she likes being on the other side of things.

“I think about all of my coaches,” Burnett said. “And all the things they would tell me. I try to take the girls aside and I'll tell them 'that's a great check' or 'a good play' or talk a little about what they did. As a player, I liked that kind of constructive insight. I hope it helps them out a little bit.”

This more open approach let's the girls find their own way as a team.

“Everyone has to communicate,” Bradley said. “There aren't any coaches or anyone else making the decisions. We have to learn to communicate and how to play together on our own. I think that really helps to have that communication.”

The indoor league, which is played in the ice rink at Casey Park, offers a unique playing surface that in many ways changes the dynamics of the game.

“It is a beautiful game,” Lattimore said. “The playing surface is really fast. But it gives the players a chance to really use their stick skills and take advantage of the surface and use it to their advantage. It makes for a really fast, exciting game to watch.”

Aside form the fast indoor surface, box lacrosse also has no out of bounds, which gives players the chance to approach the game differently and try new things.

“I like that there aren't any boundaries,” Hayes said. “It makes the game go very fast. You can score more and you can try to set more stuff up than you usually can in a normal game.”

But perhaps the most unique aspect of this league is that all of these girls, from freshmen through college, are mixed together and playing on the same teams together.

“We decided to try to integrate them,” Lattimore said. “When they all play among each other it is a real benefit to the younger players. They can play alongside the older girls who have been playing longer and they can really benefit from their experience. We've had really good luck with this. We've mixed them together and we've still been able to keep it a competitive league.”

Lattimore said that for some younger players this can be a little nerve-wracking at first, but all of the teams have quickly taken to this format and come together.

“Initially I think some are a little apprehensive,” Lattimore said. “But once they get integrated they get more comfortable and confident and the older girls really help the younger ones a lot. You see them talk to the younger players and give them advice and tips.”

The mixing of players of all different levels makes for some interesting competition.

“Some of the younger girls are really good,” Kim Winslow, a junior at Brockport, said. “There are a lot of different players of a lot of different levels and it makes it interesting. I remember what it was like when I was a younger player, so I think this is a really good thing about this league.”

For Maura Bradley, who will be starting her freshman JV season this year, this has been a great benefit of the league.

“You get to work with a lot of different people here,” Bradley said. “Getting to play with the older girls is good I think. I think it makes the teams a little more competitive and makes us want to try harder and really go out and play our best.”

Lattimore said that in the future he'd like to see some more teams join the league and hopes that it keeps on growing and contributing something to Section III lacrosse.

“We just want to help these girls out and make sure they get the most out of it,” Lattimore said. “We'd like to see some more involvement; I think we could accommodate some more teams. But we really just want to help as many players as we can bring their game to the next level so they can compete in Section III, which is a pretty tough section, and help them as much as possible.”