NorthStar Lacrosse

History

In 1998, Paul Caldwell, head coach at Dublin Coffman, and Jim Leake, then head coach at Thomas Worthington, started an indoor girls’ lacrosse league at Sports Ohio in Dublin. A year later Dave Lundregan, a parent from Hilliard Davidson, approached Leake to coach a tournament team scheduled to play in Baltimore, Maryland in the summer of 1999, named the Columbus Storm. The two endeavors ran independently until 2003 when Lundregan stepped down as administrator for the Storm. At that time, Leake and Caldwell absorbed the Storm into what is now known as NorthStar Lacrosse.

NorthStar Lacrosse now offers a summer lacrosse camp, indoor lacrosse leagues, a summer lacrosse league and the summer / fall tournament travel team. Caldwell and Leake were first to offer indoor lacrosse leagues for girls in Central Ohio and first to offer summer tournament team opportunities for players wishing to play in the recruiting tournaments in the Baltimore and Philadelphia areas.

From its small beginnings in 1998 with some 60 girls in attendance, the winter indoor league now boasts nearly 300 players from 14 different teams in the Columbus area participating. The summer day camp attracts between 100 and 150 players by offering coaching from various collegiate coaches from in and around Central Ohio. In addition, many NorthStar alumnae return every summer to assist in giving individual instruction to the campers.

To date, nearly 40 players from the tournament teams since 1999 have gone on to play at the collegiate level in Division 1 and Division 3. Three ex-players are head coaches at the high school level, four are assistant coaches at the collegiate level, and one is a Division 3 head coach.

The success of the program can be attributed to the simple philosophy to which Caldwell and Leake adhere. That is, teach sound lacrosse fundamentals and knowledge of the game as a whole; teach hard work and dedication to the team concept; teach giving back to the game that you love; and, most importantly, have fun while you do it.