AUBURN - Seventeen years ago when Steve Crosby, a 1985 Auburn High graduate and long-time lacrosse player, returned to Auburn after going on to play lacrosse at Potsdam, he and other Auburn alumni saw the need to help enrich the Auburn lacrosse program.

This is an idea that began to manifest in many ways, starting with the younger players.

“Some of us had just graduated from college,” said Crosby, a coordinator for Auburn Lacrosse. “We were all talking about putting something together and from there we've become involved in a lot of different things. We run the summer clinic for kids that runs four weeks. We have about 190 (participants) this year. That was a big thing, we wanted to be able to give younger players the chance to be exposed to the game and get excited about the sport.”

Over the years this youth base has helped nourish a strong lacrosse program in Auburn that has seen may of its players go on to successful collegiate careers. Even a few players have gone on to play professional, most recently Greg Downing, who was drafted sixth in the Major League Lacrosse draft.

“It has been great to see that,” Crosby said. “Greg grew up coming to our camps, he went on to play in college, he came back to coach at the camps and now he has been drafted into the pros. It is really great to see someone that has gone through our program be able to have these accomplishments.”

While youth and high school lacrosse have been undeniably popular and successful, another aspect of the Auburn Lacrosse program has been just as popular over the past 17 years.

It was with the box lacrosse league that everything really began and all the success can be traced right back to the moment Crosby and others decided to start the league.

“We thought it would be good, a nice outlet.” Crosby said. “A bunch of us had just graduated from college around 1990 and there were softball leagues and things like that, which are great, but we were looking to do something a little different, so we decided to start a box lacrosse league.”

Right out of the box, the idea was popular.

“We had a good response that first year,” Crosby said. “A lot of guys really wanted to play and we were able to get something pretty good together.”

Support also came from the city of Auburn which has allowed the league to use the empty ice rink at Casey Park since the league's inception.

“We've had a great deal of support from the community,” Crosby said. “They let us use the rink and the city has always been really supportive of what we've been doing and they've made it possible for us to have a place to play, which has been great.”

Over the years the league has changed and adapted, growing to encompass a wider variety of players.

“We get some older guys,” Crosby said. “We get some younger guys who are still in high school or that have just graduated but are looking to play. We get a really good mix of guys out to play.”

This mix of younger and more experienced players has helped create a unique atmosphere.

“I'd say it is friendly but competitive,” Crosby said. “But I'd say at the end of the day the main thing is just to get together and play and have some fun.”

This summer the league has eight teams playing Monday and Thursday evenings.

Crosby attributes this popularity to the nature of lacrosse.

“It gets in your blood,” Crosby said. “Since we've started all this I'm seeing second generation players. People who had fathers that played and now the kids are playing. It gets in your blood.”

Each team in the box league has the opportunity to make it to the playoffs at the end of the season, vying for the chance to play in the final championship game.

“It is all based on seeding from wins and losses,” Crosby said. “Then we have the playoffs and the championship. It is something that makes the competition a little more fun.”

Last summer the league also expanded to include an over-30 branch that is proving to be quite popular also.

“That is a little less formal,” Crosby said. “Pretty much who ever shows up and wants to play plays. It is sort of a pick-up league but we got that off the ground and it is going pretty well.”

But the most important thing may simply be to keep the love of the game alive.

“It is exciting to have the opportunity for a lot of us to still play,” Crosby said. “It is an exciting game and we're happy to be able to have the chance to still get together and play some games and have some fun. To be able to do all the other things we do through the program to help pass that love of the game along to other players.”