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Notre Dame Alumni Game And Clinic Video

The Notre Dame Alumni Game in New York City was much more than just an alumni game, and kids and fans from across the five boroughs came out for the Notre Dame Day of Lacrosse, presented by CityLax.

The forecast called for scattered showers and drying conditions, but the actual weather had other plans in mind, and a light to medium rain fell throughout the cold morning and early afternoon. This did not stop members of the Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team from putting on a superb clinic for local youth players, and it did not stop the kids from showing up en masse.

Players from all five boroughs made the trek to Cardinal Spellman HS in the Bronx, and with terrible service interruptions on many NYC subway lines, this was no easy task. The fact that kids walked, rode busses, took trains, and used whatever else was available speaks volumes towards their collective passion for the sport. No matter how hard the MTA tries to keep these kids down, they show up anyway!

After the superb clinic work, the Notre Dame alumni showed up en masse, put on some beautiful gold uniforms, and took the field in the ongoing rain to test the current team in a spirited, but decidedly friendly, alumni game. We saw decades of ND alums represented on the alumni squad, with big recent names like Kavanaugh and Landis suiting up alongside “older” guys, like ESPN‘s Eamon McAnaney.

Umbrellas lined the field as the Notre Dame faithful came out to cheer on both sides. As she passed by, a mother of a player remarked how she couldn’t believe she was still coming to lacrosse games. I said the four years would be over soon enough, and she remarked that she was the parent of an alum, but just couldn’t stay away. It was said with a smile and a laugh, as the rain continued to soak us all.

I saw a very real and honest dedication to the sport of lacrosse from the Notre Dame men’s team, and it extended all the way out to family members and alumni decades removed from their playing days.

They’ve been doing it right in South Bend and a couple other places for a while, and Notre Dame can now add NYC to the growing list.