Zack Lehman ’91 Brings Lacrosse and Non-Sibi to Inner-City Boston
Exeter Bulletin, Spring 1999

Charlestown has the highest concentration of public housing in the city of Boston. It is not the kind of place you would expect to find five lacrosse teams competing against the likes of Exeter and Andover. But Charlestown Lacrosse has made this dream a reality thanks to the efforts of a squad of volunteers, local and corporate sponsors and the energy of executive director Zack Lehman ’91. “This program is growing like crazy,” Lehman says. “I don’t know where it will stop.” Lehman began coaching an inner-city team of public high school boys in 1997. Using his contacts at New England private schools, he lined up 14 matches against JV teams. “It was tricky to find opponents,” he acknowledges. “We were a new team and a community team. But we run this program like a top notch prep school program. Once the schools saw this, they were willing to play us.” Charlestown finished 4-9 that first season with some close losses, including a one-point loss to Exeter. The real success, Lehman says, was having 27 boys stay through the season and remain off the streets.

In 1998, Charlestown Lacrosse incorporated as a non-profit and formed a board of directors. The program expanded to offer four additional teams for boys and girls in junior high and a coed instructional program for third through fifth graders. A total of 175 kids and 35 coaches now participate (including coach Abigail Friedland ’95) and Charlestown Lacrosse sponsors prevention workshops, after-school tutoring, and community service projects. “Close to 50 percent of our kids live in public housing, and they’re all from working class families. Lacrosse is just the hook we use to get them involved, but we’ve given them something they can be proud of. This really makes a difference in how they feel about themselves,” says Lehman, who lives in Charlestown with his wife and 9-month-old son. After Exeter and Dartmouth, Lehman graduated from Harvard Law School in 1998 and is a law clerk for Judge William G. Young of the U.S. District Court.

For information about volunteer opportunities and funding needs, contact Charlestown Lacrosse, 25 Sackville St., Charlestown, MA 02129. Phone: (617) 242-1344 or visit the web at: www.charlestownlacrosse.com.

—Katherine Towler

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