Fastbreak Lax began 23 years ago in the fall of 1989 under the name
of Cockeysville Recreation Council Boys High School Indoor Lacrosse. The original league,
founded by Dutch Ruppersberger, Kim Strutt, and Chad Roeder, played games at The Perring
Athletic Club just north of Baltimore. There were eight teams and 112 boys registered. The
purpose for creating such a program was to give high school boys the opportunity to
sharpen and improve their lacrosse skills before the outdoor spring season. In the fall of
1994, we moved to The Clarence DuBurns Arena in southeast Baltimore City by the harbor.
After two years at DuBurns, we changed our game site to its present location at
The
Freestate Indoor Sports Arena in White Marsh, Maryland, located a few miles northeast of
Baltimore. In 1997, our organization left the Cockeysville Rec Council and
re-named itself "Fastbreak Lax" and incorporated under that
name in the summer
of 1998.
During the 2000-01 season, we created two separate
boys' high school programs. In the
"Fastbreak League" (our original program) there were 20 teams with a total of 350
players in grades 9 through 12 and representing over 40 different
schools from Maryland, northern Delaware, southern Pennsylvania, and
northern Virginia. These teams were chosen by a player selection
committee. Our newer boys' program was made up of 16 high school teams
mostly from the MIAA and simply called The School
Teams Program. There were 2 skill/age levels: Varsity
- made up of teams from Friends, Calvert Hall (2), McDonogh, Loyola (3),
Boys' Latin (2), and Baltimore Prep (1 team mostly from St Paul's and
Gilman); Junior Varsity - made up of teams from Friends,
Calvert Hall, McDonogh, Boys' Latin, Baltimore Prep, and Loyola.
The Boys' High School Teams Program now includes a variety of MIAA,
club, and public school teams divided into Varsity A and B and JV A and
B.
In 2000-01, we added a
High School
Girls' Program, made
up of 16 club and school teams from the Baltimore metropolitan
area. During the 2010-11 season, our girls' program grew to
25 girls' teams divided into four categories: Levels A, AB, B, and
C (depending on the skill levels and ages of the players).
Also during the 2009-10 season, we added a youth
program, which included 24 new boys' teams from Tykers (ages 7-8) up
through Juniors (13-14).
From mid-January of 2005 to mid-January 2007, we hosted a high
school boys' tournament. This LAXPAC (LAX
Premiere All-Star
Challenge) Tournament replaced our
traditional one previously held during the Thanksgiving holidays.
Originally, thirteen teams participated including squads from Long
Island, Pennsylvania, and Maryland in 2005. In January of 2006 and
2007, 16 teams from Maryland and Pennsylvania took part in this annual
event.
During the spring of
2011, two veteran lacrosse enthusiasts joined the staff of Fastbreak
Lax, Inc. We welcome Mr. John Sheehan and Mr. Steve Burnham.
These gentlemen will assist in setting up schedules, recruiting teams,
running the day-to-day operations, and much more. Their experience
and knowledge of the indoor game will provide additional opportunities
for more teams and players to participate.
Without doubt, Fastbreak Lax produces some of the
best high school players in the nation. We are very proud of
past accomplishments, and our athletes benefit from having devoted and
knowledgeable volunteer coaches. In addition, on any given game day, one
can find college coaches at the Freestate Arena watching and scouting
our players. Many of the Fastbreak Lax players go on to play in college,
and a significant number of them receives partial or full athletic
scholarships. Our boys' officiating crew, which is assigned by the
Southern Lacrosse Officials
Association's John Sheehan, is consistent,
competent, and approachable. On the girls' side,
Lea Kusner of BBOWS
is the
assigner, and her referees continue to provide excellent officiating. In addition, we hire a certified trainer
and scorekeepers for all high school games.