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Mraz is co-founder and president of the new Fairfield Youth Lacrosse program that will begin play in spring for children in grades 1 to 8. The group’s objective is to give kids more opportunity to play the game.
“There’s always discussion about how things are going, how are the high school teams doing,’’ Mraz said. “Growth at the youth level in Fairfield has not been increasing as fast in lacrosse as it has in other areas. Looking at the kids that are going on to play at the high school programs, it’s not really that big of a number.”
Mraz is a good candidate to spur interest. A former football player at Fairfield, he joined the lacrosse team his junior year when a friend invited him to try out. “The first lacrosse game I ever saw,’’ he said, “I played in.”
His coaching career began with a club team at Fairfield University. Mraz founded the program at Staples High School in 1975 and has stayed involved ever since. He also coached at Fairfield Prep, Fairfield University’s men’s team and Fairfield Ludlowe. He was also the head coach and co-founder of the lacrosse program at the Wakeman Boys & Girls Club, where he was associated with the program for 24 years.
“We at Fairfield Youth Lacrosse just felt there has to be way to provide a program that is fun and keeps kids in the program,’’ Mraz said. “We want kids to be in a different environment and see different types of lacrosse.”
One of Mraz’s main goals is to provide proper training for coaches. The program’s technical coaches include Weston High coach John Mathews, Sacred Heart assistant Pete Greco, former Fairfield Warde player Allie Davis, and Andrea Millard, a former college star who also coached at Convent of the Sacred Heart in Greenwich.
“There’s a coaching progression of what needs to be taught to a first-grader and so on,’’ Mraz said. “We’re going to teach what players that age are capable of understanding and doing.”
Fairfield Youth Lacrosse has been recognized by the town’s Parks and Recreation Department and will have access to town fields. The team will also have field availability at Fairfield Country Day and the town’s two public high schools.
Online registration began last month. The group wants especially to introduce more girls to the game because many girls have their first exposure to the game in high school, Mraz said.
“Kids are exposed to a lot of things these days,’’ he said. “You need to make it fun, it can’t be a burden. If it’s instruction and fun, when they get to the high school level they’ll keep playing. We’re going to want our kids to keep playing when they get to high school.”
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