On the sidewalks of the South Bronx, where residents usually hear the bouncing of basketballs or the clack of a metal baseball bat, the sounds of dense lacrosse balls whipping into the back of goals fill the neighborhood.
For Dan Leventhal, founder of Bronx Lacrosse, these turf fields are the epicenter of the future of the sport.
Leventhal, a former college lacrosse player and Teach for America corps member, has built a community with Bronx Lacrosse that goes beyond athletics to help young people find success on and off the field. The nonprofit started in 2018 as a free, year-round academic and mentorship program that uses lacrosse as a way to keep middle and high schoolers motivated and accountable.
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“I was fortunate enough to play lacrosse all throughout my upbringing and the sport taught me so many invaluable lessons such as teamwork, responsibility, leadership, putting others before myself,” Leventhal told Newsweek in an interview for our “Newsmakers Impact” series. “And the sport ultimately took me to Tufts University and it opened up so many doors for me.”
After winning a division III national championship as a college student in 2014, Leventhal said Teach for America brought him to Highbridge Green Middle School in the South Bronx. The community was much different from where he grew up in Westchester just 30 miles north.
In an effort to connect with his students and build community outside of the classroom, Leventhal started playing lacrosse with students after school. Anyone was allowed to join, under two conditions: They had to show up on time for class every day and keep their grades up. The students obliged and the results inspired Leventhal to formalize the program.
“I saw the kids really started to buy into it,” he said. “They took to sports. And, ultimately, I could use this sport as a vehicle to keep kids on the right track and to reach their full potential.”
The Bronx Lacrosse staff is comprised of players and coaches from some of the top collegiate lacrosse programs in the country. They work alongside students, schools, families and other community-based organizations to support students year-round.
Their dedication to showing up consistently for students fosters deep, genuine relationships in and out of season.
“It’s not just a typical sports program where you’re with us during season and [you] don’t see us again for six months,” he said. “We’re with kids all throughout the year because it’s way more than just lacrosse.”
Leventhal considers the organization an academic and mentorship program in which lacrosse is a useful tool to keep kids energized and disciplined. The program includes tutoring, mentorship, social-emotional skill building and high school and college application support.
After the pandemic, Leventhal said the South Bronx community struggled with chronic absenteeism. So, the program doubled down on its mission to make sure kids got to school.
“When I talk about the success of the program, I have to start with the most important thing: making sure kids are in school,” he said. “That even goes as far as our staff knocking on their door to pick them up to get them to school. And we’ve shown real results there.”
On the academic side, the program focuses on algebra readiness and basic mathematical fluency. Outside of the classroom, students are learning critical life skills like leadership, accountability and teamwork. Bronx Lacrosse began as a program for boys but grew to include girls’ lacrosse, arguably a completely different game from what the boys play, two years later.
The skill level in the program has greatly improved as well, demonstrating that the kids of the South Bronx deserve to be on these fields as much as anyone else. That sort of confidence can carry over.
“When kids have that success on the field, they think they can do it in other elements of their life as well,” Leventhal said.
Lacrosse might be the oldest sport in America, with roots dating back to indigenous Americans in the 1600s, but it has not always been the most accessible. It’s typical among upper-middle-class, white school districts across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic—with some of the top-ranked programs in the nation just outside New York City on Long Island and in New Jersey and Connecticut.
Two of the greatest barriers to entry for city kids to play lacrosse are the cost and availability of equipment and fields.
“A lot of times, we’re just restricted to play in blacktop or basketball courts, but we make do with what we can and that hasn’t stopped us from helping kids reach their full potential to become the best lacrosse players that they can be,” Leventhal said.
And with sticks, goals, balls, helmets, padding and mouth guards—having the proper gear adds up. That’s why Leventhal ensures Bronx Lacrosse is completely free, with all equipment provided through partnerships and donations.
“Our kids just need the opportunity; they have the talent, they just need the opportunity, which is what we’re providing for them,” he said. “We’re really excited about where the sport’s headed, especially now, all of our kids are black and brown, and that’s not the traditional group of kid that are playing the sport, so we’re changing the game.”
Attendance rates and test scores are impressive, but Leventhal knows it’s the personal stories that really demonstrate the impact this program can have.
Jordany is a senior in high school who came to the U.S. with his family from the Dominican Republic at age six. When he arrived, Leventhal said he spoke very little English and struggled academically. Then, he joined Bronx Lacrosse in middle school.
“It gave him a community, it motivated him to work harder in school and, in turn, Jordany really took to the sport,” Leventhal said. “He started working harder in the classroom and has now since become one of the best high school lacrosse players in the country—he’s a nationally ranked player and he’s going on to Delaware on a full scholarship to play lacrosse. So those are the real results in why we’re doing this work.”
Leventhal also said, “We want to meet kids where they’re at … We want to push them to go to college, if that’s really what they want to do. But ultimately, we want to lead them to opportunities and pathways where they are going to achieve life success.”
Watch Newsweek’s interview with Leventhal, for our “Newsmakers Impact” series, above.