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ONELL in the News:

2008 ONELL Game Schedule

By Steve Crowe, Globe Correspondent | August 26, 2007

COHASSET -- Many of the players arrive from work still in business-casual attire. They change into their uniforms in the comfort of their cars. They engage in friendly tete-a-tete with the "enemy."

Wives and girlfriends chill on the sidelines. Children mosey around with sticks of their own, idolizing their fathers, who are on the field. Teammates introduce themselves, ostensibly meeting for the first time.

The game begins around 6 p.m. Their skills are varied. Former Division 1 college lacrosse players are working off the rust, while newcomers, who were exposed to lacrosse through their children, are trying not to look misplaced.

These are the sights of the Olde New England Lacrosse League, an assemblage of ... (continued)

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ONELL allows the older set to keep on playing
By Stephen Tobey / Staff Writer Thursday, August 4, 2005

Once people start playing the lacrosse, they often find it hard to stop.

Now one growing group of people is doing all it can to make sure nobody has to stop playing the game. Four years ago, Scott McKenzie was coaching his son's youth team in New Hampshire when he felt the urge to play again. McKenzie, who grew up in Wilmington and played at Shawsheen Tech in the 70's, started playing in an adult league with recent college graduates, then played pickup games at an indoor facility. He met some other players who were over 30 and formed a team that played in a Nashua, N.H. league.

'We did well in the league," he said. 'We'd beat the teams with high school kids and lose to the teams with college kids. We said it was too bad there wasn't a league for players our own age."

He found another team in Manchester, N.H. that was also interested in playing in such a league. Then he found teams in Sudbury, Billerica and Lexington. Eventually, those teams formed the nucleus of the Olde New England Lacrosse League, which began play last year.

Now in its second season, the Olde New England Lacrosse League has a six-team over-30 division and a four-team over-40 division. The over-30 division includes McKenzie's Rusty Bones team, which is based in the Nashua, N.H. area, Seacoast (N.H.), Manchester, N.H., Concord, N.H., Metro Lacrosse (Chelsea), Coastal (South Shore of Massachusetts) and Sudbury. Rusty Bones, Manchester, Billerica and Groton have teams in the over-40 division.

'We're a recreational league," said McKenzie, who is the league's commissioner. "We have modified rules. You can't take more than three steps before hitting somebody. You can substitute at any time."

Said Billerica's Mike Bergstrom, 'We all have to get up and go to work the next morning."

The Billerica team, known as the Fakawee, was originally a group of former Billerica High players who were still trying to stay involved in the game.

'We were playing some pickup games on Monday nights with high school and college kids for the past five years," said Jim Whiteway. ''Then we found out about this league."

Metro Lacrosse's team began playing at Minuteman Regional High School in Lexington last year and moved to Chelsea High this summer.

'We have guys in their 30s, who played in college," said Metro Lacrosse's Zack Lehman. 'We also have a former All-American from Harvard who is in his 50s and he's still really good."

While the majority of the league's players played in high school and college about a decade before most high schools in this area started teams, others are newcomers to the game.

'We have some players who started playing because their kids were playing," said Bergstrom. McKenzie said there are five more teams waiting to get into the league and several people from around the country have contacted him about starting similar leagues in their communities.

For more information on the Olde New England Lacrosse League, e-mail Scott McKenzie at scottpmckenzie@comcast.net

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