Capital Lacrosse Invitational at Landon October 13—awesome opportunity for lacrosse fans—young and old!

Sporting events can be exciting opportunities to see high level athletes display their skills. It is rare when such you can see exceptional competition AND participate in a celebration of a spectacular human being.

On Sunday October 13, come out to Landon to see some teams with Final Four potential — Bucknell, Lehigh, Penn State and UMBC — play fall ball. The players include ten alumni of DC area schools. Unlike the NCAA Final Four games, the stands are close to the players and the cost is not prohibitive.

What is unusual about this Fall Ball competition is that it uniquely captures the spirit of Mario St. George Boiardi, who was a Landon graduate and Cornell lacrosse captain. George died doing what he loved – playing the Indian game. If you saw Crooked Arrow you know that there is a special spirit involved in this sport. That same leadership exuded from George Boiardi; his enthusiasm for life, for this game and for the community in which he excelled continues to influence his high school and college teammates.

At Cornell, for example, athletes, who were taking on rigorous academic requirements and dedicating what they thought was the rest of their time to the Big Red lax team volunteered to give up the few free minutes they had to go with George to read for school kids in Ithaca. Exhortation or guilt speeches were not the methods of moving these normal college students away from X-box or a much needed nap; rather it was the special spirit of George that pulled them off their couches down to the local elementary school. Once there, these college students returned without any additional compulsion. The spirit of George drew them.

After George’s corporeal presence left, his buddies from Cornell and Landon felt drawn to continue his legacy of service by empowering the next generation through academics and athletics.  This became the mission statement of the organization they formed to embody George’s spirit, the Mario St. George Boiardi Foundation.  The Foundation keeps George’s essence and spirit alive by raising funds to help youths to be exposed to athletics on the way to college educations and thus to contribute back to society.  The Foundation raises money at events throughout the year and uses the funds to support organizations, which both matter to George and personify him, including Teach for America and the Family Reading Partnership of Ithaca, as well as support the Foundation’s own programming.

Next weekend is one aspect of the fundraising for these kids, but it brings those guys who were captivated by the spirit of George at Landon and Cornell. These now mature adults take big chunks of time away from their busy lives, from their families and from their professional lives to rekindle the essence of George—enthusiasm, direction, commitment, community and a myriad of related attributes. But oddly enough, as when he was alive, these friends do this without a push from their buddy; they do it because their captain instilled in each of them an appreciation for, a commitment to and a joy in giving back. The physical reunion of these Brown Bears and Red Bears, guys who were not really linked until they jointly formed the Foundation, is reminiscent of their time with their buddy #21.

During the Capital Lacrosse Invitational, the college players from Bucknell, Lehigh, Penn State and UMBC will learn about the special spirit of George. The young fans and their parents will be introduced to the concepts (giving back to the community, the value of education and the motivation and lessons of sports) through this series of contests. It is the goal of the CLI not just to raise money for scholarships, but to pass on that special drive to excellence that was seen in George’s studies and sports.

It’s rare that you can take your family to an exceptional sporting event which is located nearby, which will let your kids see phenomenal athletes, which will not drain your wallet (buy your tickets through this link) and which will expose you and your kids to an event where a special spirit will be present, be exemplified by those present and will show your family a real role model, George Boiardi!