LEFT Spencer Phillips, 9, celebrates a good play. BELOW Chatham Cardinals Head Coach Eric Ditter reviews game strategy in a huddle.
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SPORTS PITTSBORO LACROSSE PROGRAM BUILDS A PIPELINE OF PLAYERS THROUGH SPORTSMANSHIP BY ANNA-RHESA VERSOLA
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN MICHAEL SIMPSON
hen Jason Walden was 3 years old, he would put on a helmet and run with a stick, imitating his 5-year-old brother, Drew Walden, who was learning to play lacrosse. “I think he felt like he was a
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CHATHAM MAGAZINE
character in a Lego video game,” says Leslie Walden, the boys’ mother. “He just really took to it and fell in love with it.” That same year, in 2007, Northeast Youth Lacrosse was formed by four dads – three were former lacrosse players – Chris Mann, Randy Cox and Jeff Taylor – and one, Jason and Drew’s dad, Jay Walden, was a former wrestler. In 2016, the group rebranded itself as the Chatham Cardinals.
SUMMER 2022