BENTONVILLE -- When Ozark Mountain Lacrosse formed in 2018, the organization had a goal to bring awareness and year-long youth lacrosse programming to Northwest Arkansas.
Just three years later, and excitement in the area around the sport prompted the creation of the Premier Lacrosse League to coordinate with the Ozark Mountain League to bring a high-level lacrosse clinic to the area. The camp was hosted by former Princeton University star Tom Schreiber.
The event, which took place at Phillips Park in Bentonville, impressed him.
"It was really fun," Schreiber said. "Like I said to them at the end, I do this stuff all of the time and this was as much fun as I've ever had. The passion for the game was very clear and it was such an awesome group of kids. It really was a blast."
In his collegiate career at Princeton, Schreiber had an impressive stint that included scoring 200 points and being named an All-American four times. Professionally, he played for the Ohio Machine of the Major Lacrosse League prior to the league's consolidation with the PLL. While with the Machine, he was a two-time selection for league MVP. He now plays for the Archers L.C. which will begin its season on June 5.
Schreiber credited individuals within the community for their efforts to bring awareness to Arkansas youth about lacrosse.
"It's very clear that there's a handful of people who have worked really hard to get lacrosse here to where it is right now," he said. "This was really special. I was really excited about this opportunity, and sure enough, I got down here and it exceeded all expectations. Every single person out there was really into it, and it made my job easy."
The three high schools in NWA that have lacrosse programs -- Bentonville, Springdale Don Tyson and Fayetteville -- were represented by players at the clinic. These teams compete in the Natural State Lacrosse League (NSLL) which is in its second year. The association also has three squads in the central Arkansas region.
NSLL commissioner Anthony Martin thinks events such as the PLL Academy clinic helps shine a spotlight on lacrosse that isn't typically there.
"The visibility to the sport is tough for this area to know and understand the game because few people here grew up with it," Martin said. "Having a pro like Tom come in gives visibility for new kids to see it, but also keeps kids in the game. There's an issue of attrition sometimes so this is good for overall sustainability with the game. This was one of the bigger events they've had apparently."
Dave McDaniel, head coach of the Bentonville Lacrosse Club and one of OzMo's co-owners, believes lacrosse could prove to be a new alternate for athletes in the area.
"It's one of the fastest-growing sports among youth in the country," McDaniel said. "There's a lot of opportunities for kids that learn and train in the sport to go on and be collegiate athletes as well."
In an era when large roster sports such as football often have limited roster spots available, lacrosse could be an alternative, McDaniel said.
"The case for lacrosse is that there's so many roster spots in these high school athletic programs," McDaniel said. "They can't really serve every single athlete. Adding sports is always a good thing to give kids a chance to compete or find their niche in the school and represent it at a high level. I think every kid that's given an opportunity for that enjoys and appreciates it."
Showing similarities of lacrosse to other popular sports is something he said could help prospective players decide to give the game a shot.
"You've got to equate lacrosse to sports that kids already play," McDaniel said. "There's elements of basketball for sure in the sport. Some of our base offenses are pick-and-roll and motion-based. You'll notice that on the defensive side, lacrosse is the exact same fundamentals as defense in basketball: stay in between your man and the goal. In lacrosse, we run man defenses and zone defenses which is pretty similar."
In fact, basketball inventor James Naismith was a lacrosse player prior to architecting the sport. Athletes with a background in basketball can quickly find comparisons within the two sports when playing. Striking correlations such as an area of the court along with a position being labeled a "wing" can be directly attributed to lacrosse terminology.
However, basketball isn't the only sport that lacrosse complements.
"Comparing it to football, we talk a lot about angles to the ball and the ball-carrier," McDaniel said. "It's the same stuff in lacrosse."
One of the most common obstacles keeping schools from embarking on making the game available to students is the cost, something both Martin and McDaniel recognized.
"It can be an expensive game," Martin said. "A lot of high school programs, unfortunately, are subjective to what's in the pipeline already."
Bentonville High School has seen success finding ways to alleviate some of the costs, McDaniel said.
"We do everything we can as a community organization to try and drive down cost for programs," McDaniel said. "Cost can be a barrier of entry to the sport, which I recognize. We participate in equipment discount programs to try and help folks afford the equipment for the game at both the high school and youth levels."
An event such as the PLL Academy demonstrates that the organization sees potential for NWA to have success with the sport.
"For the PLL to be as accessible to organizations such as OzMo in a little corner of Arkansas, and to send a guy the caliber of Tom Schreiber to our state and our community, it means a whole lot," McDaniel said. "For these kids this is an experience they're going to remember for the rest of their lives."
Keith and Carmen Carver, parents of a seventh-grader who participated in the training, witnessed their son's enthusiasm to attend the clinic.
"Lacrosse isn't something this area is known for," Keith said. "To draw someone in of that caliber builds excitement to the point where our youngest child is here and missing a tournament for his other sport to be at this event because it's such a big deal."
Carmen Carver agreed that an elite player like Schreiber struck a chord with their son.
"He was thrilled," Carmen said. "It's a big deal to have a PLL player come out, especially someone as famous as Tom. To get some experience on the field with him was a huge deal. He was extremely excited this was happening."
Harry Wilson, a junior on the Bentonville lacrosse team, was thankful for Schreiber's willingness to provide instruction.
"He was able to work with each of us and teach us all how to fix some things to make us better," he said. "This is kind of crazy to see a guy this big in the sport show up. It really shows a lot of humility and how much he wants to give back to the sport he plays."
Following the on-field instruction, Schreiber gathered the athletes in a huddle to give them an opportunity to ask questions.
Fayetteville Lacrosse Club member Liam Hulett was impressed that the two-time MVP was eager to give him tips.
"I honestly didn't think he was going to be this warm and open, but it was a really pleasant surprise," Hulett said. "I got to talk to him like I would any of my coaches."
Both Wilson and Hulett aim to help their respective teams make a push for a spot in the first-ever NSLL state championship game that will take place May 1 at Bentonville's Tiger Stadium.
For students who are skeptical about trying lacrosse, Martin believes simply giving the sport a shot can help solve that problem.
"Frankly, most of the kids who come out here to try the sport end up really enjoying it," he said. "Once they get outside, put on a helmet, and start whacking people with sticks, they love it."