What is lacrosse?
Lacrosse is a team sport that originated among Indigenous people of North America, often called the Creator’s Game or Medicine Game. We recommend everyone watch the History of Lacrosse to better understand the game and the evolution of the sport. Lacrosse has both a male and female version with different rules, equipment and style of play.
Who and what is Bridge Lacrosse?
Bridge Lacrosse is a sports-based youth development nonprofit serving the urban communities of North Texas. We are a certified 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
What is the mission of Bridge?
Our mission is to use lacrosse to broaden the horizons of our community’s youth. We exist because we believe that our programs can be an integral part of youth development and that lacrosse can be used as a tool to help close the opportunity gap.
What is the history of Bridge Lacrosse?
What is today Bridge began in 2003 as the former Friends of North Texas Lacrosse. As the sport grew in North Texas, the need to bring lacrosse to a new and diverse area was recognized. A meeting about starting a lacrosse program at St. Philip's School & Community Center, in South Dallas, took place in the summer of 2004. The following summer, we began programming at the Irma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School of Dallas. Bridge officially reincorporated as a new nonprofit in 2008.
How is Bridge funded?
Like most nonprofits, we are funded through the generosity of other private and individual donors. We have been fortunate enough to receive grants from several local foundations and large corporations. We also run several events per year, too, to help offset the costs of fundraising, employees, operations, and, of course, our programs. Roughly 60% of our funding come from individuals and families, 30% from grants and foundations and the last 10% from corporate giving and earned revenue.
What is the budget for Bridge?
Our annual budget is $300,00. We welcome you to visit our financials page for additional information. We are dedicated to financial transparency as a nonprofit and have earned Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar.
Who runs Bridge?
We are governed by a volunteer group of Board of Directors, who oversee all major strategic and fiduciary needs of Bridge. They are comprised of nonprofit professionals, business leaders, parents, coaches, young professionals and passionate advocates of kids! Bridge is staff by full-time and part-time employees and oversee all operations and programs of Bridge.
Who coaches Bridge programs?
We’ve been fortunate enough to help an amazing and experienced core group of coaches, through the years. For our spring programs we have various coaches with strong playing and coaching backgrounds. In addition, we also have parents serve as coaches to assist and provide support. In addition, we also have many high school volunteers that assist, and we oversee a high school Leadership Board.
How important is safety?
In short, safety is incredible important and we understand all concerns related to safety in a sports environment. All coaches review the CDC's Heads Up Concussion Training (student-athletes (age 11+) as well as review all new and revised safety materials from USA Lacrosse, such as the concussion management plan. All Bridge coaches attend a mandatory training meeting and coaches undergo a NCSI background check.
Is lacrosse a UIL (University Interscholastic Sport) sport in Texas?
No, lacrosse is a non-sanctioned, non-UIL sport, that functions primarily as a club and volunteer run program. With the exception of some private schools, lacrosse in Texas is volunteer organized and not directly associated with a school or district.
What spring programs does Bridge operate?
At present, we manage Kindergarten through 12th grade spring competitive teams. As lacrosse is a spring sport, we place great emphasis on these teams, by providing full administrative, coaching, funding and operational oversight. We have a mutually agreed upon partnership and memorandum of understanding which each school that we work with.
What summer programs does Bridge operate?
During the summer, we partner with various organizations and provide week-long lacrosse camps to them. We provide added value and enrichment to these organizations through our programs. Our camps our staffed by various high school lacrosse players, all with experience and willingness to give back to others.
What fall programs does Bridge operate?
In the fall, we return to our competitive teams for “fall ball”, an 10-week season that allows us to recruit and keep our teams lightly active during the off-season. In addition, we also host an afterschool program with various partners and provide them added enrichment to their existing programming.
Weather Policy
If you don't hear from Bridge, assume that every practice, game, clinic or event is still on
Weather notifications, cancelations, relocations or reschedule decisions will be made no later than 3 hours prior to the start of an event
Notifications will be made via email (first) and text (second)
Relocation or cancelations will occur due to any inclement weather including snow, ice, rain or extreme cold
Bridge reserves the right to cancel any event we feel is a dangerous or harmful environment to our student-athletes and coaches
What are the costs associated with lacrosse?
The cost of lacrosse is one the largest barriers to growth. Overall, lacrosse can be an expensive sport with average programs costing student-athletes between $500-$2,000 for a year’s worth of lacrosse, not including equipment. We will do our absolute best to ensure that cost never prevents a student-athlete from the opportunity. We offer scholarships to any student-athletes with financial needs.
Does Bridge endorse or recommend other lacrosse organizations, such as club or travel programs?
Bridge has close friends across the entire Texas lacrosse landscape. However, we do not endorse any one organization over another. We recommend doing your research when seeking out additional lacrosse opportunities. Be sure to recognize cost, location, schedule and culture. If you like the coaches there, that's a big plus!