Wednesday morning, a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean, the San Diego Seals and UC San Diego Health unveiled the ELEVATE28 lacrosse program at Pacific Beach Middle School in San Diego.
Presented locally by UC San Diego Health in collaboration with the Seals, ELEVATE28 is a program designed to help grow the sport of lacrosse leading up to its debut at the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Locally, the Seals are taking the program to 15 San Diego County schools, including Pacific Beach Middle School.
Physical education teachers like PB Middle’s Jennifer Henehan are each receiving kits that include lacrosse balls, sticks and nets, and a curriculum to teach the game of lacrosse to their students.
Henehan, who’s also a Seals Season Ticket Member, was thrilled to be part of the launch of ELEVATE28.
“First of all, let me tell you that I’m a huge fan of the Seals so I’m kind of geeking out the fact that they’re here right now,” said an excited Henehan. “I love the fact that our students here at PB Middle School have the opportunity to learn from professional athletes. They can see that the players are actual real people, ask questions of them and learn a little bit about what kind of dedication it takes to make it as a professional athlete.”
And Henehan added that ELEVATE28 provides a great platform to introduce the sport of lacrosse to students who hadn’t previously been exposed to it.
“For the most part, I don’t think these kids have really had the opportunity to play lacrosse and since we’re in Southern California, there’s not a lot of them who’ve actually seen lacrosse, so it really is a phenomenal opportunity for them,” she added.
Seals players Jake Govett, Chris Origlieri and Zack Deaken, along with the team’s mascot, Salty, and members of the Sirens Dance Team were all on-hand to take part in today’s ELEVATE28 launch that featured more than 75 Pacific Beach Middle School students.
“This is amazing,” said Govett when asked about the program. “The opportunity that we get to grow the game, it’s big for the game and it’s big for the Seals to get sticks in these kids’ hands and expose them to the game of lacrosse”
And when asked about his own personal aspirations of competing in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, Govett didn’t hesitate.
“It’s always been a goal of mine,” he explained. “Watching the Olympics as a kid, it’s kind of surreal that it’s here now. It’s physical and it’s in the near future, so it’s really exciting for the whole lacrosse community.”
Eighth grade student Major Scott was also excited to have the Seals visit PB Middle School on Wednesday morning for the launch of ELEVATE28.
“It’s pretty cool,” said Scott. “It’s the first time it’s going to be in the Olympics, so it’s cool to be a part of it.”
ELEVATE28 is a collaboration that was started by eight organizations representing lacrosse thought leaders in the United States. They include USA Lacrosse, World Lacrosse, the National Lacrosse League, the Premier Lacrosse League, Lacrosse Athletes Unlimited, the Intercollegiate Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Associations and J Tsai Sports.
ELEVATE28’s publicly stated mission is to double the country’s participation in the sport to 4 million annual players by the end of the decade.
For more information on ELEVATE28, visit https://www.usalacrosse.com/elevate28.
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